


Ten Feet Tall

by LittleRose13



Series: I Knew It All Along [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, Graduation, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley - Freeform, Head Boy Scorpius Malfoy, Hogwarts, M/M, Quidditch Player Albus Potter, Sequel, Seventh year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 17:44:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 76,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16602641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleRose13/pseuds/LittleRose13
Summary: Seventh year is hard. Between Head Boy duties, Quidditch, NEWTs and attempting to work out their futures, Scorpius and Albus feel like they’re drowning. With the end of Hogwarts in sight, their relationship is put under the most pressure it has ever been before.Scorpius’ dreams to attend Healer school start to seem like a reality and Albus is working furiously for his potioneering licence. They both have goals to achieve, but they’re in love, and Scorpius is sure no amount of Head Boy meetings or extra hours spent with the smokey-eyed Potions professor can change that.Their relationship can survive to graduation and beyond, can’t it?The sequel to ‘Sweeter Than Fiction’ but can be read on its own.





	1. Kinky Jigsaw Night

“That’s probably about enough for today, it’s getting late.” Scorpius glanced at his watch, as if he hadn’t been aware of the time for the entire session.

“Aw!”

“No, let’s do more!”

“Guys, we’ve been here for an hour and a half, it’s time to go.”

“But we haven’t even looked at the sixteenth century yet!” Ruby Chambers sounded disappointed.

“No, but we have looked at the entirety of the three centuries before.” Scorpius sighed at the fifth year and she smiled sadly.

“Okay, Scorpius. But promise we can do it next week? It’s only seven weeks until our OWL.” Ruby spoke matter of factly.

“Don’t remind us,” groaned another of the fifth years.

“Promise.” Scorpius smiled at the small group of fifth years starting to gather their things together. He’d subtly put his own books away during Ruby’s last monologue to make as quick of an escape as possible; he was already going to be late.

“Scorpius, don’t you have that Head Boy meeting with McGonagall? I’ll stay and help put all the books back.” Rose winked at him and Scorpius shot her a grateful smile.

“I do have a meeting, thanks for reminding me, Rose.”

“Just doing my prefect duty. Now, go!”

Scorpius didn’t need telling twice and he all but sprinted out of the library and into the corridor, checking his watch and predicting that he would only be a minute or two late if he hurried. And hurry he did, because he knew what was waiting for him was more than worth almost tripping down the stairs and skidding into the entrance hall.

He was outside before he knew it, his heavy book bag swinging against his hip and the feeling of anticipation building. It was raining, not that that would ever stop Thea holding Quidditch practice, but if they hadn’t overrun, the team should be finishing just about _now_.

Scorpius felt his heart flutter at the sight before him, because he would never ever get over this moment of every week, on Wednesday evenings, when History of Magic club ended at the same time as Slytherin Quidditch practice and he could finally, _finally_ , see his boyfriend.

Wednesday evenings were special for the two of them because every week, they kissed each other good morning on Monday and then barely saw each other again until Wednesday evening.

A school week for Scorpius and Albus goes something like this:

Scorpius wakes up early on Monday morning, and Albus does too, even though he has a free period first thing on a Monday. They spend fifteen blissful minutes in each other’s company, snuggling together and whispering conversation about the upcoming week, before Scorpius has to force himself to get up and leave so he can make it in time to his weekly head meeting with Professor McGonagall. Thea always waits for him in the common room with a knowing smile.

After the meeting, Scorpius has a full morning of lessons and a study group over lunch. As soon as lunch is over, Scorpius heads to the hospital wing where Madam Abbott - the matron of two years and Professor Longbottom’s wife- is signing him off for a pre-Healing course he’s hoping will increase his chances of getting into SMSHE. Albus eats dinner early and goes to Quidditch, by which time Scorpius has finished with Madam Abbott and has to do Head Boy rounds.

He falls into bed at midnight beside a sleeping Albus, who always stirs and throws an arm around him, before Scorpius passes out.

When he wakes up on Tuesdays, Albus is usually already gone, off on a run around the grounds with Cole. He’s tried to bring Scorpius along more times than he can count, but Scorpius _hates_ running, especially after his busy Monday. Sometimes they get to eat breakfast together, depending on what time Albus gets back, but not for long.

These stolen minutes are worth it because they then don’t have any of the same lessons on Tuesday and are even on a different lunch. Albus’ alchemy classes are in the evening, and then he leaves straight for the Astronomy tower where he tutors OWL students. So on Tuesdays, it’s Scorpius who’s first in bed and Albus joining him later. He finds he can sleep much better after Albus has arrived.

Wednesday follows a similar pattern. There’s normally a moment where Albus is coming in from Herbology and Scorpius is on his way to Transfiguration where their paths cross but it’s fleeting. Then in the afternoon they have Advanced Potions together, which is nice to be in the same room for longer than ten minutes, but Advanced Potions doesn’t leave much concentration space for anything else.

Then Scorpius supervises History Of Magic revision club (a mixture of enthusiasts like Ruby who choose to be there and others who were asked to attend by their Head of House to prepare for OWLs) and Albus has Quidditch again, but when they’re both over (and Scorpius always checks with Thea what time she’s running practice until so he can match HoM club), they finally get to spend some time together, just the two of them.

“Scor,” Albus breathed softly, like he did every week. As usual after Quidditch, his hair was a rumpled mess and he needed a shower, but as usual on a Wednesday, neither of them cared.

Scorpius wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and kissed the top of his head, revelling in the feeling of Albus leaning against his chest. Albus linked their hands and started walking in the opposite direction of the castle, silently making the decision for them that they would be going for a walk that evening. It was still misting with rain, but neither of them cared.

“How’s your week been?” Albus asked, gently rubbing his thumb back and forth over Scorpius’ hand.

“Eventful. Did you hear what happened in second year potions on Monday?”

“Of course I did! Exploding cauldron of shrinking solution wasn’t it?”

“Yep. Hospital wing was full. Professor Jacobs had to help us out too, brewing extra antidote as quickly as possible.”

Albus gave him a strange look. “I know, Scor. I helped her brew it.”

“Wow, you did? I didn’t even realise.”

“When did things get so crazy for us? Remember the days when we used to spend all our time together?”

“I miss that.”

“What’s happening tomorrow morning?”

Scorpius thought for a second about whether he had a study group or not and smiled. “Nothing. It’s a nothing week!”

Albus beamed. “My favourite kind. I get to have you all to myself from now until lunch tomorrow.”

“We can finish our Potions homework together!” Scorpius suggested enthusiastically.

Albus chuckled. “Just in time for final year projects to start next lesson.”

“Ooh that reminds me, I think I’m going to do mine on Felix Felicis and-” he broke off when he noticed Albus grinning at him, “and now is not the time to be talking about Potions projects.”

“Sexy,” Albus laughed. “Speaking of which…”

Scorpius felt himself grow warm as Albus smirked at him. “Yes?”

“I really need to have a shower. Want to come too?”

“Albus!” Scorpius whispered. “We can’t do that in school, can we? We’ve never done that before.”

“I know, but I’ve especially missed you this week and I don’t want to spend a second without you until I have to.”

Scorpius smiled to himself at the thought of taking a shower with Albus. The idea was exceptionally appealing.

Things had moved slowly in their relationship. After they first kissed in fifth year, that was really all they felt the need to do. After one too many innuendo-based jokes from Cole, Albus had confessed to Scorpius that he was nervous about taking things to any kind of next level, and Scorpius had been so relieved he almost cried. Because he felt exactly the same.

So they made the most of every tiny milestone, ensuring they were both ready to go there. The first time they saw each other naked was the night before sixth year, in Scorpius’ bedroom, with most of the lights off. They didn’t even want to _do_ anything _,_ just cuddling together and feeling their skin touch in places it never had before was enough.

Of course back at school, with hormones rushing and them both gaining more and more confidence, this quickly transformed into something more than cuddling. Sixth year was a time to learn each other’s bodies and what felt good and what didn’t. It was also a time to learn where in the castle you could guarantee not to be walked in on.

“So what do you think, Scor? Do you want to?”

Scorpius sighed. “Of course I want to, but what if we get caught?”

“We’ll use the Prefects’ bathroom.” Albus smiled.

“Oh, now we’re having a bath?”

“There’s a shower in there!” Albus protested. “But a bath sounds fun too.” He snaked his arms around Scorpius’ neck, nuzzling into his ear. “Please?”

“Fine, but only because I’ve missed you too.”

Albus smiled triumphantly.

* * *

The Prefects’ bathroom was deserted and they slipped in easily. Scorpius dropped his school bag down and turned to Albus, taking him in his arms and kissing him sweetly. One of Scorpius’ many favourite things about Albus was that he was shorter than Scorpius and fit so snugly against his chest, like it was just where he was meant to be.

“I’ll get us towels,” Albus said, disappearing around a corner.

Scorpius smiled to himself, noticing that his bag was open and a box of quills had opened out onto the floor. He’d been too intent on kissing Albus before. He bent down to clear them up.

“Hey, no work on Wednesday nights,” Albus reprimanded, gently removing the quill from Scorpius’ grip.

“You caught me,” Scorpius joked, pushing his bag away and sitting on the bench.

Albus had removed his Quidditch training tshirt and sat opposite him with a towel slung over his shoulder, ready to go and shower. He distractedly attacked his messy hair with a brush and Scorpius smiled.

“Will you let me do it?” he asked, holding his hand out for the hairbrush.

Albus raised one eyebrow. “It’s not a special occasion, you only brush my hair when we need to look fancy.”

“I won’t make it look fancy, please? I love your hair.”

Albus passed the brush over and sighed. “Fine, but be gentle.”

He ended up sitting on the floor in front of Scorpius while he gently teased out the knots and tangles in Albus’ windswept hair. The combination of the wind, rain and flying at high speeds never did it any favours.

“You should get some of that tangle teasing potion to put on it before Quidditch, save you having to do this every time.”

“That’s what Teddy says too. He says I’m _damaging my ends_ or something.” Albus’ eyes flickered up to where Scorpius was still brushing his hair.

Scorpius inspected a strand from Albus’ long fringe. “It looks perfect to me.” He worked on one last knot and brushed all of Albus’ hair back from his face, kissing his forehead. “Done.”

“Thanks,” Albus whispered.

“I love Wednesdays,” Scorpius replied, running his hands over Albus’ bare shoulders and down the front of his chest. Albus relaxed back into him and joined their hands.

“Shower… I need to shower,” he said after a second.

They didn’t shower together, instead Albus quickly rinsed off and washed his hair while Scorpius ran them a bath to share. For some reason, having a bath together felt less rebellious than showering together at school, although Scorpius wasn’t sure why.

Albus was tucked in front of Scorpius, the warm water swirling soothingly around them both. Scorpius rested his wet hair on Albus’ shoulder and kissed his neck. “Love you,” he whispered.

“Mmmm, can we do this every week? Everything about this is good. You’re here, you’re naked, there’re bubbles, it’s warm.”

Scorpius laughed lightly. “Works for me; _you’re_ here and _you’re_ naked. Lovely.”

Albus settled back against him contentedly then he suddenly flinched.

“Ow,” he hissed, pulling away from Scorpius and holding himself awkwardly.

“What’s wrong?”

“My shoulder, it’s nothing.” Albus reached across his chest and gripped at his shoulder, wincing. “I think it’s just a bit strained.”

Scorpius gazed at him in concern. “Have you been having any tingling feelings in your elbow? Because that could be a sign of Chaser’s Shoulder.”

Albus laughed and Scorpius knew why. He spent a lot of his limited free time reading books and articles on Healing and, as a result, was quick to link the smallest of symptoms to potential but unlikely diagnoses. Scorpius had recently been reading about Chaser’s Shoulder, also known as _Horton’s Disease._ It was something every Quidditch player feared after it had infamously ended the career of Basil Horton, when it wasn’t diagnosed until he was paralysed, prompting the Ministry to fund research into the condition which found an effective treatment plan. Cases were few and far between and tended to affect older professionals who trained almost daily; the idea of Albus having Chaser’s Shoulder was a bit silly.

Albus continued to poke at his own shoulder. “Can Keepers get Chaser’s Shoulder?”

“Do you want me to massage it?” Scorpius reached out and gently took Albus’ hand from his shoulder.

“Yeah, alright then.”

Scorpius ran his hands down the centre of Albus’ back, working his thumbs into the tight muscles around his shoulders.

“How did you get so good at giving massages?”

“Practice? I don’t know if am that good, I could be making it worse for all I know.”

“Well it feels good.” Albus sighed contentedly. “Do you want one too?”

“I’m not a Quidditch player.”

“So? I’m sure you have a lot of tension from all those books you carry around. Ow!”

Scorpius had unearthed a particularly stubborn knot in Albus’ shoulder. “Does that hurt? I’m sorry.”

“It hurts in a good way, keep going, please. That’s my throwing arm. Thea’s got me doing this new long throw from the goal to about halfway down the pitch.”

“Wow.”

“She’s fucking crazy at the moment, our Theatrical.” He spoke breathlessly and winced as Scorpius worked the knot out with his thumbs.

Scorpius smiled at Albus’ nickname for Thea. “When isn’t she?” He gave Albus’ shoulder one last squeeze and wrapped both arms around him.

Albus settled back against Scorpius’ chest and leant his head over his shoulder. He glanced upwards so their eyes made contact.

“I love you,” he breathed, surprising Scorpius, who thought he was going to continue talking about Quidditch. “Thank you.”

“I love you too,” Scorpius replied, smiling down at his boyfriend.

“Your turn now,” Albus said slyly, adjusting their position. “Where do you want me to massage first?”

Scorpius grinned widely.

He maneuvered himself in Scorpius’ arms so they were facing each other, gently caressed his cheek with one hand and there was a second of quiet while they simply gazed into each others’ eyes. Albus’ familiar green blazed and he closed the gap between them, kissing Scorpius more fiercely than he expected after that tender build-up. He didn’t mind though, responding with just as much enthusiasm.

* * *

They walked back to the dormitory hand in hand, occasionally stealing glances at each other and smiling. Scorpius felt so full of love for Albus, like he always did after they were intimate with each other.

A brightly coloured piece of paper caught Scorpius’ eye as Albus stalked over and pulled it down from the wall.

“ _Whack,”_ he read in disbelief. “What’s she doing now?” He sighed, passing the paper over to Scorpius who glanced down at it.

_WAC_

_Wizards_ _Against Cruelty_

_Are YOU tired of animals needlessly suffering for the gain of wizards?_

_Do YOU wish there was a way we could function as a wizarding society without supporting the suffering of animals?_

_Meet with like-minded people as we work together to come up with a solution to this problem which works for us and the animals._

_First meeting: Library, Thursday, 6:00_

_Contact Lily Potter for further information_

“Good for her, she’s making her voice heard.”

Albus scoffed. “Lily’s voice is always being heard. Do you think anyone’ll join this?”

“Yes!” came a contemptuous voice from behind them. Further up the corridor, Lily was attaching more posters to the walls. She came striding over and took the poster out of Albus’ grip, defiantly sticking it back to the wall and putting her hands on her hips. “And it’s not _whack,_ it’s _W, A, C.”_

“Oh, hi, Lil.” Albus looked a bit sheepish. “Genuine question though! Have you had much interest?”

Lily fixed him with a hard stare. “Just because _you_ don’t care about animals, doesn’t mean nobody else does.”

“It’s not that I don’t care about animals, Lily, it’s more that-“

“I know, I know, potions are your _thing_.”

“You like potions too, don’t you?” Scorpius interjected. 

Lily rolled her eyes at Scorpius. “No, I don’t. I like potions when I can make them the way I want to.” 

“But potions are important. A lot of potions we need have animal based ingredients, but people would die without them,” Albus said.

Lily jabbed a finger at her poster. “I _know._ That’s the entire point of WAC. We’re going to find alternatives. It’s not as if it’s impossible, me and Poppy have already found two and it only took us a year!”

Albus nodded. “No, you’re right. You and Poppy are killing it and I’m really proud of you for doing that.” 

Lily pouted. “We’re not killing it at the moment. Why didn’t you tell me what a killer OWLs are? I haven’t had time for ingredient experiments in _months_. How will Poppy and I revolutionise the wizarding world if Professor Flitwick keeps setting us three page essays?”

“How unreasonable of him!” Albus said, pretending to be affronted.

“When you’re a professional potioneer, will you use my alternative ingredients?” Lily batted her eyelids innocently.

“Er.” Albus looked like he didn’t know what to say. “Well-“

“We’ll talk about this once you’ve got your potioneering licence,” she cut in happily. “I’ve got the whole rest of the West Tower to cover before curfew, see you both later!”

Lily skipped off happily with her leaflets leaving Albus to stare after his sister in bewilderment.

“Sometimes, I wonder how we can be related.”

Scorpius eyed Albus strangely. “Albus, you’re not that different.” Albus opened his mouth to protest. “You care about different things, and you express that care in different ways, but you still care about them.”

Albus smiled in a pleased sort of way and took Scorpius’ hand again.

* * *

Back in the dormitory, they were settled on Scorpius’ bed in pyjamas, an unfinished jigsaw puzzle of a garden filled with flowers and birds floating in front of them with the pieces strewn across the pillows. They’d not long ago started it, having just finished a scene of a fire-breathing dragon and Scorpius requesting something gentler this time.

“This looks like it should fit, why doesn’t it?” Albus fruitlessly tried to snap the tip of a blackbird’s beak onto half a daffodil before giving up and throwing the piece aside with an annoyed sigh.

Scorpius peered at the piece and then back at the jigsaw, before smirking at Albus. “I’m sure you need your eyes tested.”

Albus just rolled his eyes and ignored Scorpius’ comment. “Have I mentioned you look adorable in these fancy pyjamas?” Albus plucked at the knee of Scorpius’ grey and white striped pyjamas; he’d got them for Christmas from his grandparents.

Scorpius frowned. “Are they that fancy?”

Albus pointed to his own pyjamas, which consisted of green checkered trousers and a _Firewhiskeys_ tshirt which was much too big for him. “Yes. Are they French? I bet they’re French.”

“No,” Scorpius protested. “They’re Italian,” he added in a whisper.

Albus laughed and threw his arm around Scorpius’ waist, burying his face momentarily into his neck and then kissing his hair. “It’s not fair how cute you are.”

Scorpius hummed appreciatively and caught Albus’ lips in a quick kiss.

“Are we alone?” Albus whispered, his face pressed against Scorpius’ cheek. 

“Not for long.” Scorpius glanced around the currently-empty dormitory. “Someone is bound to come in soon.”

“And find us innocently doing a jigsaw.” 

“You know Cole would somehow turn that into a dramatic story and all our friends would think he’d walked in on us, I don’t know,” he cast around for a ridiculous example, “tying each other up or something.”

“ _Tying each other up?”_ Albus echoed incredulously, leaning back away from Scorpius. 

“I don’t _want_ to tie you up! It was just an example!” Scorpius felt himself turn pink. “I just meant, we don’t have any privacy in a dorm like this.”

“We can find somewhere more private if you’d like to tie me u-“ 

Scorpius cut him off with a kiss and a mumble of _shut up_ against his lips. “Just the jigsaw.” 

“Jigsaw’s going to be difficult if my hands are tied up,” Albus said in mock serious tones. “You’ll have to do my pieces for me.”

“Oh, let it go. Jigsaw Night is an innocent endeavour.” Scorpius didn’t look at him and instead scanned his eyes over the loose pieces.

“But new Kinky Jigsaw Night is not.” 

Scorpius ignored him and kept searching.

“I found the last corner piece!” Scorpius triumphantly held it up and Albus took it from him with a flourish. 

“And you didn’t even have to use _accio_ this time,” he winked. 

Scorpius scowled at his boyfriend. “I did _not_ use _accio_ last time.” 

Albus’ expression softened and he settled his hand on the back of Scorpius’ head, gently stroking his hair. “Want me to stop teasing you, love?” 

Scorpius could still remember the first time Albus had called him _love_ and he knew Albus could too because he’d been so genuinely surprised to have it come out of his mouth. It had been at Teddy and Victoire’s wedding, the summer after their fifth year, on the beach near Shell Cottage and Albus had drunk one too many glasses of Pimm’s. He’d shivered and Scorpius had wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, to which Albus responded by saying _thanks, love._

His mouth fell open the second he said it and he started to stutter an apology, until Scorpius asked him what on Earth he was apologising for, it wasn’t as if he didn’t know Albus loved him. Albus protested that he’d never called anyone _love_ or _darling_ or anything like that ever, and he wasn’t sure where it had come from. Scorpius explained that he _liked_ the affection and he also liked that that meant it was just their thing.

“I’m tired, not dealing well with teasing right now,” Scorpius protested, allowing his head to flop sideways and land on Albus’ shoulder. Albus pulled him in close and kissed the top of his head. 

“You’ve been overdoing it,” Albus sighed. “I nearly thought you were going to sleep through jigsaw time.”

“Never, we never miss jigsaw night” Scorpius whispered. “My Smash application is in now though, that’s one less thing to worry about. Until May when they start calling for interview.”

St Mungo’s School for Healing Excellence was more commonly know as SMSHE, or Smash, and it had been Scorpius’ dream since he was thirteen to train there and qualify as a Healer.

Albus nodded. “You’ll get an interview, of course you’ll get an interview. And you’re going to be the most wonderful Healer Smash has ever seen. You could say,” he paused for effect, “you’re going to _smash_ it.”

Albus’ shoulders shook as he laughed at his own joke and Scorpius joined in, even though he’d made it before.

“You’ve got it all worked out, Scor,” Albus said, and he sounded a bit wistful.

Scorpius lifted his head and looked Albus in the eye. “So have you, you’re going to make the world of potioning a different place.” 

Albus shrugged. “Only if I can get a job at a brewers who will agree to sponsor my Potioneer’s licence, competition’s fierce.” 

Potioneering licences took a lot of work and some very difficult, official Ministry exams. To be eligible to even study for the licence, applicants needed the endorsement of a brewing company who provided support and expertise to the candidate.

“And you’re Albus Potter,” Scorpius said simply then blanched when he realised what he was implying. “Merlin, no, I didn’t mean because you’re Albus _Potter._ I meant because you’re _you_ and you’re wonderful and brilliant at potions and so talented and-”

“Scor, you can stop. I knew what you meant.” Albus was grinning and Scorpius relaxed. “It’s just so tough to get chosen to study for the licence. That’s the part that I really, _really_ want.”

Scorpius kissed the freckles on the tip of his nose. “You deserve it. You worked so hard all summer at that apothecary, that’ll count for something.”

Albus looked down, away from him for a second. “Scor?” he whispered.

“Yes?” 

“We won’t… grow apart, will we? When we graduate I mean. You’ll be in Healer school and I’ll be who even knows where. I don’t want to hold you back.”

Scorpius’ eyes widened at Albus’ suggestion and he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend tightly, tilting his chin up so Albus was facing him. “I certainly have no plans to grow apart from you. The idea that you could hold _me_ back is laughable, I’m nothing without you. I need you, Albus.”

“But Smash is in London, and most of the big brewers are up north and-“ 

“And what? We’re wizards, Albus. We both have apparition licences. Distance isn’t an issue.” He hesitated for a second. “I’ve been sort of thinking about what to do after graduation, and I could move back in with Dad, but I had another idea.”

“What was your other idea?” Albus said, completely still.

“Well, maybe we could find a place together? If you want to! I know you might like to move back in with your parents like James did at first.” 

“No,” Albus said firmly. “I love my mum and dad to pieces, but I’m not ready to live there full time again. I’d love to get a place with you.”

Scorpius beamed at the huge step their relationship had just taken, even though it was just a hypothetical idea and he hadn’t even mentioned to his dad that he’d thought about this. “Can we get a pygmy puff? And one of those hanging flower baskets outside the door?”

Albus rolled his eyes. “Don’t have a door yet, but you’re already planning how we could decorate it.” His eyes scanned the puzzle pieces and he picked one up. “Now, this looks like it might go… here.” It snapped into place perfectly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels so good to be posting these two again! Welcome back, hope everyone has had a good six months (because that’s how long it’s been since Sweeter Than Fiction ended, where does time go???) I know I have :)
> 
> I hope you liked chapter 1! Please let me know your thoughts and predictions in a comment :) thank you to Marina and Beks for all the support and editing help!  
> I’m on tumblr @littlerose13writes and I love chatting to people, please come and say hi!
> 
> The next chapter will be up in a week’s time :) have a lovely week everyone!  
> Rosie x


	2. Potions Prodigy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily drops a bombshell and Albus doesn’t take it well, the seventh years are faced with the reality that graduation is so close yet so far.

“The light within me honours and respects the light within you. Namaste.”

“Namaste,” Scorpius echoed and there was a moment of silence. He lifted his head and watched Lily shake her long ponytail behind her, her neck extended and her eyes closed, her legs crossed beneath her.

“You came,” Lily said, her eyes still closed. “That’s nice.”

“Sorry I haven’t for ages. My Smash application-“

Lily’s eyes snapped open. “No judgement, I’m just glad you made time for yourself and your practice today.”

Scorpius smiled, feeling a familiar wave of calm wash over him. He’d really missed doing yoga with Lily after a good few weeks. “You’re a very good teacher.”

She settled back into herself, closing her eyes and resting her open palms on the tops of her knees. “I’m not a proper teacher, not yet. You have to be seventeen to take the certification. Luna says I can start learning in the summer before my seventh year.” She sighed wistfully.

“That’s not too far away.”

She smiled at him, opened her eyes and lay flat on her stomach, picking her feet up behind her. “I’ll get there.”

Scorpius crossed his legs and pulled his ankles toward him. “What about the vegan ingredient business? You and Poppy made such a good start with the gillyweed seeds and the goosegrass extract.”

Lily shrugged. “I can always do both. The ingredients are an ongoing thing, and I can’t do it on my own anyway, that’s why I started my club.” She gave Scorpius a hopeful look. “Will you join?”

He hesitated for just a second but Lily was already shaking her head. “No, it’s okay, I know you’re so busy, Scorp.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to support you, Lily,” he told her sincerely and she nodded in understanding. “You get it. I’m sorry, I barely have any time anymore.”

“I know.” Lily hesitated for a second. “Um, Al may have mentioned you two are struggling to find time for each other.”

“It’s not that we’re struggling to find the time, it’s more that the time isn’t there. We’re both sacrificing sleep more than we should just to be able to have some alone time. But I know it’s catching up with Albus; he doesn’t do well with a lack of sleep.”

“Do any of us?” Lily placed a hand lightly on the top of his knee. “Things are okay between you, aren’t they? It’s just, Albus doesn’t really talk to me about relationship stuff usually.”

Scorpius felt his stomach drop. “What did Albus talk to you about? I thought things were okay, fine, great, wonderful! Does _he_ think things aren’t okay? Have I been neglecting him and not even realising? Oh heavens, I’m an _awful_ boyfriend, I thought-“

“Scorpius!” Lily cut him off sharply. “Chill. All Albus said was seventh year was working you both so hard, it was taking away from your time together. That’s it.”

“Oh.” Scorpius felt a bit silly. “Well, that’s true.”

“And that you were planning to move in together,” she added slyly and wriggled a bit closer to Scorpius.

“That’s the plan.” He smiled at the thought.

Lily punched the air. “Yes! I knew it!”

Scorpius raised his eyebrows in question.

“Albus just said you’d made a _big decision_ but he wouldn’t tell me what it was. I guessed either you were moving in together or getting a shared pet, like a dog or a hippogriff.”

“Albus doesn’t like dogs.”

“A hippogriff then.”

Scorpius laughed. “Lily. No, we’re not getting a hippogriff. But we are thinking about moving in together next year.”

“Can I help you decorate?” She clasped her hands together, her eyes shining. “I could paint mandalas on your bedroom wall and buy you an essential oil diffuser!”

Scorpius wasn’t completely sure what either of those things were but he smiled kindly at Lily. “That’s kind of you.”

“Do you know, Scorp, I always hoped you’d become part of our family and I’m really glad you have.”

Scorpius felt himself blush. “That’s… that’s a nice thing to say.”

“When you and Albus get married, can I-“

“Woah, Lily, slow down. Who said anything about getting married?”

Lily gave him an appraising look. “Come on, it’s going to happen one day.”

Scorpius sat back on his heels and allowed himself a second to just smile. Then he shook his head and tried to conceal his huge grin from Lily. “We’re just moving in together, we’re only eighteen.”

Lily looked unimpressed with this response. “Anyway, when you _do-“_

_“Lily.”_

She rolled her eyes at his warning look but stopped talking and started rolling her wrists around, stretching the backs of her hands against each other.

“What’s new with you?” Scorpius asked after a pause.

Lily cast him a furtive look. “Okay, if I tell you this, you _can’t_ tell Albus.”

“Is this going to be like the unicorn incident?”

“No.” Lily pursed her lips. “Because you told Al about that. It’s nothing bad, I promise, and I _will_ tell him eventually, but I want to tell him, not you.”

“Okay. Fire away.”

“I’m sort of seeing someone, from my year. He’s not my boyfriend or anything, but he might be soon.”

“Lily that’s so lovely! I’m happy for you.”

Lily gave him a glowing smile. “This is why I tell you things, Scorp.”

“Have you kissed him yet?”

She paused for a very telling second. “You’re _just_ too close to being my brother for me to answer that.”

“So, yes, then.” He nudged her gently in the side.

Lily stared off into the distance and sighed dramatically. “Under the stars, after Astronomy.”

“Romantic.”

She turned back to face him with a curious expression. “Where did you first kiss my brother?”

“Do you really want to know?”

Lily nodded so Scorpius took her wrist and lifted her arm up, pointing at a tree not far from them. “ _Right_ there.”

“Aw, sweet,” she sighed contentedly.

“Why can’t Albus know?” Scorpius grinned. “About this boy?”

Lily squirmed uncomfortably. “Al’s okay, but everyone in my family always treats me like I’m some glass animal who can’t take care of herself and needs protecting all the time. Being the youngest and the only girl is the _worst_ for that, it’s like they think I can’t make my own decisions! James had his first girlfriend in something like second or third year, but I just know they’ll all be _you’re too young to have a boyfriend, Lil_ and make a big deal out of it all.”

She said all of this very fast and took a deep, composing breath.

“They just care about you a lot,” Scorpius reasoned. “I don’t know what having a little sister feels like for real, but I know I care about you, Lily. I would hate to see you get hurt, and that’s how your brothers feel too.”

“But you’re nice and normal about it,” Lily traced circles in the grass. “Of course I don’t mind that they care, they just care a bit _too_ much.”

“Well, it’s your news to tell Albus if and when you think it’s best to.” He checked his watch and sighed. “I have to go, but this has been great. Thanks, Lily.”

“You’re welcome,” she beamed at him. “Will you come again this week?”

“I hope so,” Scorpius smiled, rolling up his yoga mat.

“I like talking to you, Scorp,” Lily crossed her legs and closed her eyes, looking as relaxed as ever. “You’re so calm and rational, I need more friends like you.”

Scorpius chuckled fondly and stuck the yoga mat under his arm, waving to Lily and leaving her on the edge of the forest. He always felt so calm and content after yoga with Lily, ready for anything. Which was a good thing, as that Friday was set to be anything but calm.

* * *

“Seventh years, it’s time.”

There was a collective sigh as the class of overworked and frankly exhausted students saw the words written on the blackboard.

_Final Potions Projects_

“We talked about this at the start of the year, but the time has come to start our final projects. As you know, this makes up half of your final NEWT grade. You will each choose an advanced potion and design a study to explore the effects of altering one of the ingredients. When your study has been carried out, you will present your findings in an essay.”

Professor Jacobs swept about the classroom, handing them each an intimidatingly thick looking hand out. She smiled at Scorpius as she placed one in front of him and then one in front of Albus before she continued explaining. Albus was watching her intently as she moved.

“This is a notoriously time-consuming project, and you won’t be set any other coursework for Potions, our double sessions on a Friday will be dedicated to final projects, but the rest of your study will need to be conducted in your own time. I recommend allowing around two hours a week for your project.”

It wasn’t as if they hadn’t known the infamous final projects were coming, but that didn’t make it any less daunting that they were finally here. Scorpius had been thinking for a while about which potion he would brew and what his study could be about, and he’d almost decided, but he knew Albus was absolutely agonising over the choice.

Which was why Scorpius was surprised to see him with a determined expression on his face as Professor Jacobs instructed them to turn to an example of a previous student’s project and a list of suggested potions. Albus scanned the list briefly and put up his hand.

“Yes, Albus?”

“Professor, can we choose a potion that’s not on this list?”

She grinned wickedly, her dark, smokey eyes glinting. “Of course, I’ll come and talk to you about that in a minute.”

“What are you going to choose?” Scorpius hissed incredulously.

Albus looked a bit uncomfortable. “Um, I’ll tell you later.”

“I didn’t know you’d picked one!” Scorpius couldn’t help but feel a bit offended that Albus hadn’t told him.

“I don’t know if I have yet, I need to check with Professor Jacobs.”

“It’s going to be something _interesting_ and _Albus-y_ , isn’t it?” Scorpius felt a smile grow.

Albus winked. “You know me. Are you still going to do Felix Felicis?”

“I think so, sort of. I’m going to experiment with the Deprehensia potion, you know the one that they use to check professional athletes haven’t cheated and taken Felix before a game.”

“Putting it out there now, I want to be the guinea pig who gets to take a shit load of Felix Felicis for your project.” Albus looked thrilled at the prospect.

“I was thinking of asking Lily actually?” Scorpius teased.

“That girl does not need any more luck or confidence,” Albus laughed.

“What are we thinking then, boys?” Professor Jacobs interrupted. Albus gestured for Scorpius to speak first.

“I’d like to experiment with the Deprehensia potion, maybe at how the levels of scurvy grass change its effectiveness?” Scorpius was uncertain under Professor Jacobs’ smoky-eyed gaze.

“I think that’s a great idea. Perhaps you could look at how much scurvy grass is needed to pick up smaller amounts of Felix? I think you’ll get more interesting results that way and there’s a lot of reading for it.”

“Sounds good, Professor.” Scorpius smiled.

“Wonderful. Okay, start filling this in.” She handed him a parchment form titled _Project Proposal_. “And how about you, Albus?” Professor Jacobs’ eyes glittered, looking intrigued.

“Well, I was thinking…” Albus hesitated and beckoned Professor Jacobs to come closer. They had a conversation in murmurs behind Professor Jacobs’ curtain of shiny hair, Albus looking unsure and Professor Jacobs looking impressed.

Scorpius heard faint snatches of words like _ingredient_ and _reaction_.

“So would that work?” Albus said at a normal volume.

“Albus, I think if you can pull this off, it’ll be revolutionary.”

“And what if I don’t pull it off?”

“The project is about conducting a study, not necessarily about succeeding. You’ll be able to do well in your NEWT regardless of whether you’re successful or not. But if you are…” she trailed off, looking very excited.

“Brilliant! Thanks, Professor.”

Professor Jacobs handed Albus a form too and swept away to speak to somebody else.

“What potion are you going to do?” Scorpius asked excitedly when she’d gone.

“Er, I’m not sure yet.” Albus looked uncomfortable. “So, when are you going to start brewing your Felix? Can I help?”

“I think I have to do it by myself,” Scorpius said, distracted by Albus’ odd behaviour.

“Er, yes, of course you do,” Albus said with a false-looking grin. “Well, if you ever want to talk about it or anything, we can.”

Albus hurriedly dipped his quill in ink and started filling in his form, angling it so Scorpius couldn’t read his handwriting, although that might have been an accident.

“Now that’s out of the way, and we still have thirty minutes to spare.” Professor Jacobs’ eyes twinkled as she surveyed the class and they all knew what was coming.

“Speed brew! Pair up, and give me a… let’s see, a hair thickening potion. On your marks, get set, potion!”

Professor Jacobs’ _speed brews_ were something she had told them to expect on their first day as NEWT students. She said it was essential they could whip up basic potions on command, and routinely set them tasks like this to keep them on their toes. As much as speed brews could be stressful, they also meant no homework for that lesson so it was with a cheerful smile that Scorpius started to set up his cauldron in between him and Albus.

Potioning with Albus was always an experience. He had his own way of doing things which almost never seemed to match the instructions, and Scorpius was a very by the book type when it came to potioning. For this reason - and only a handful of arguments in the past - they had a system in place. They’d prep the ingredients together, while Albus would warn Scorpius in advance where he was planning to deviate from the instructions and why.

“So when we get to the simmering stage,” Albus muttered, roughly chopping a cactus, “the flames need to be turned down slowly, not all at once, otherwise the bubbles will rise too fast. And I wouldn’t use that much crushed alligator tooth, an even pinch is too much; it’ll thicken the potion too soon.”

Scorpius frowned at him and then looked back at the instructions in the textbook. He shook his head and turned to Albus.

“It doesn’t say an _even_ pinch, it says an _eighth_ pinch.”

Albus froze where he was still chopping the cactus, then he began to cut it again, very slowly and without meeting Scorpius’ eyes.

“You can’t see it, can you?” Scorpius pressed but Albus still didn’t look at him, instead reaching for a pestle and mortar. “You can’t read the book properly.”

“I can read it no problem, I just looked too quickly.” Albus started to aggressively grind the alligator tooth.

Scorpius narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend. “Okay, what does the fifth instruction say?”

Albus sighed and finally made eye contact with Scorpius, looking faintly bored. “It says _simmer gently until golden_.”

“I wish I knew if you’d actually read that or you just know this potion well.”

“Scor, this is a _hair thickening potion_. It’s not like I need to make it on a regular basis.” With these words, he swept his fringe back from his face and the steam from their cauldron made it stay in place. Scorpius felt a pleasant squirm at the sight.

“But you’re Albus Potter: Potions Prodigy,” Scorpius teased. “In all seriousness, I do think you need glasses.”

“Nah, I’m sure I don’t need glasses. I’d know if I needed glasses, wouldn’t I?”

“Maybe you should just get your eyes tested, just in case.”

Albus groaned. “I’d look even more like my dad if I had glasses, especially now he’s cut his hair.”

“You wouldn’t have to get the same ones as your dad! There are loads of styles and colours and all sorts!”

“How do you know?”

“I may have tried a few pairs on over the summer, just for fun, you know. They told me my eyesight’s perfect.”

“Everything about you is perfect.”

“Will you just consider it?”

Albus sighed. “Fine. Where do I even go for that?”

Scorpius beamed at him. “Hogsmeade have a place, I’ll take you.”

“What a romantic proposition.” Albus lit a fire underneath the cauldron.

“Then I’ll buy you ice-cream.”

“Getting better.”

“And,” Scorpius paused, “then we could go back to the prefects’ bathroom.”

Albus grinned wickedly at Scorpius through his hair. “Deal.”

After completing the speed brew and siphoning the potion off into glass bottles stoppered with corks, Scorpius helped Albus clear away their leftover ingredients and followed him out of the dungeons. Albus took his hand and swung it gently as they walked. Scorpius always loved it when they held hands in the corridors and Albus knew that.

They walked to the Great Hall together, Scorpius knowing he didn’t have long to eat dinner before that night’s emergency prefects meeting. Thea and him had spent hours reconstructing the rounds rota after some of the fifth year partnerships all started dating and then breaking up with each other and refused to work together, and they were sharing it tonight. Scorpius already knew some people wouldn’t be happy, but as Thea reminded him, they were Head Boy and Girl, not the prefects.

“So, will you tell me what your potion is now?” Scorpius asked, intrigued.

Albus hesitated. “Er, it’s to do with healing.”

“Brilliant! But which potion?”

“I sort of don’t want to say,” Albus muttered. “Even to you, I’m sorry. It’s just, I’m really nervous about getting this right, Professor Jacobs is right, it could be revolutionary. But if I get it wrong…”

“You don’t want me to know?” Scorpius couldn’t hide the hurt in his voice. “Albus, you know I’ll support you no matter what. I think it’s great you’re following your dream and going for your potioneer’s licence when we graduate.”

“It’s not that I don’t want you to know, I’ll tell you eventually and you’ll be the first person I do tell. It’s just, I’ve thought about doing this for a while now and it’s been an idea in my head. I’m sort of scared to share it.”

“I understand,” Scorpius said in a very small voice, unable to envision a scenario in which he’d be too scared to share something with Albus.

“Promise I’ll tell you soon. I promise,” Albus said, in a tone which suggested he was talking himself into the idea. He leaned over and kissed Scorpius on the cheek. “Love you. Let’s eat dinner together before you have to rush off again.”

Scorpius allowed Albus to pull him to the Slytherin table where Rose and Thea were talking in low voices.

“You’re being ridiculous, she can help!” Rose hissed incredulously.

“I wish I’d never told you,” Thea muttered as Albus clattered down beside her.

“Told her what? Everything okay?” He looked with concern between his cousin and friend.

“Scorpius,” Rose folded her arms and faced him, “you’re a very sensible, reasonable person. Will you please tell T she needs to-”

“Will _you_ please drop it because of the reasons I _just_ gave you.” Thea looked murderous.

Rose held her hands up in surrender. “Fine, but let the record show I tried to help you do the right thing. If this all goes horribly wrong, it wasn’t my fault.”

“Why on earth would it be _your_ fault? It’s my problem and I’m dealing with it by myself.”

“ _Dealing with it_ , okay, whatever you say, T.”

Thea shook her head in annoyance. “I’m just not going to tell you things in the future. I’ll tell everybody else except you, you’ll be the last to know.”

Rose nudged Scorpius. “I give that promise two days max.”

Thea suddenly broke into a fond smile and she leaned against Rose for a second. “Come on, give me at least three days.”

It had taken some getting used to when Thea and Rose had first got together. Their way of flirting with each other often looked more like arguing and Scorpius knew Albus absolutely couldn’t stand it. He gazed uncomfortably between them. “So, who wants to take Felix Felicis for Scorpius’ potions project?”

Both girls looked up at him in amazement.

“Felix Felicis? Really?”

“Scorp!”

Scorpius hastily tried to explain. “I don’t know if I’m definitely doing that yet, my proposal has to be approved.”

“You’re brewing Felix Felicis?” Rose looked impressed.

Scorpius explained his project and what he hoped to experiment with and how he’d need test subjects to take a small amount of Felix followed by a variant on the Deprehensia potion to see if the Felix was picked up.

“We’re in, definitely,” Thea spoke on behalf of herself and Rose, their argument seemingly long forgotten; if Scorpius wasn’t mistaken, they were holding hands under the table.

“Excellent, well I’ll let you know when I’m going to do it.”

“Al, do you need test subjects for yours?” Thea asked curiously.

Albus started serving himself peas with more concentration than was necessary. “No, I won’t need any test subjects,” he muttered.

“Which po-”

“How did the Harpies do at the weekend, Thea?” Scorpius quickly cut her off and Albus shot him a grateful smile as Thea launched into an enraptured recount of the game.

Albus walked with Scorpius and Thea in the direction of their prefect meeting during which he was going to prepare some work for his astronomy tutoring group. As they crossed the Entrance Hall to the staircase, Scorpius noticed Lily hanging around the bottom stair. Her eyes lit up when she saw them coming.

“ _Just_ so you know,” Lily said smugly, tapping her foot as if she’d been stood at the corner waiting for Albus to appear (which she very well might have been), “WAC had its first meeting yesterday, and _six_ people turned up.”

“Excellent, Lily!” Scorpius congratulated her.

“Great news, so you don’t need me to come.” Albus grinned good naturedly at her.

“What’s _WAC?_ That poster thing?” Thea asked and Albus groaned.

Lily shot him an annoyed look. “WAC stands for Wizards Against Cruelty and it’s my new club promoting veganism in the wizarding world.”

“Is that different to veganism in the Muggle world then?” Thea said with interest.

“ _Yes,”_ Lily retorted. “Because in the Muggle world, they don’t _brew potions_ with animals when it’s completely unnecessary. WAC’s mission is to produce an effective, plant-based alternative to every potion ingredient which goes against our ethical standards.”

“Good for you, that’s quite the mission.” Thea looked impressed.

“Do you want to join?” Lily asked her brightly. “It’d be good to have some more girls.”

Scorpius watched Lily, wondering if she had said that on purpose to get Thea on side; second only to Quidditch, female empowerment was one of her favourite topics.

“Sure! When do you meet and what would I have to do exactly?”

Albus watched the entire exchange suspiciously. “Who were the six people?” he interrupted loudly and both girls looked at him in confusion. “The six people who came to your meeting, who were they?”

Lily hesitated. “Well, there was Poppy, Caleb Goldstein, um, Jake Harrison, Lucas Finnigan-Thomas, Seb Pevensey and Finley Boot.”

Thea raised her eyebrows. “Yes, that’s, er, certainly a bit boy-heavy.”

“That’s wonderful that your first meeting was so successful!” Scorpius said brightly, hoping Albus wasn’t going to say what they were all thinking.

His expression had darkened. “Seb Pevensey’s on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team isn’t he? So’s Finley Boot.”

Lily stared him down, daring him to say something.

“Yes, they’re both on Quidditch.”

“Seb Pevensey doesn’t strike me as the type to particularly care about animals.” Albus looked uncertain.

“He came to learn more about it, so did his friends,” Lily muttered pointedly.

“Lily,” Albus said gently, “do you think maybe they only came because it was you running the club?”

Thea winced and Scorpius could see why as Lily’s eyes flashed.

“ _No!”_ she cried hotly. “They care about the issues in our society, unlike _you,_ Albus!”

“That’s probably not why they came,” Thea said quickly, shooting Albus a warning look.

Albus ignored Thea’s look and shrugged. “Sounds like the perfect way to impress you.”

Lily took in a carefully measured breath and closed her eyes for a second. Scorpius immediately knew that one of the boys was the one Lily was dating. “Don’t be a James, please, Al.”

“Why, are you _dating_ one of them? Which one?” Albus stared incredulously at Lily and then looked at Scorpius as if to say _did you hear that?_ Scorpius tried to keep his face neutral while Lily stared defiantly back.

“If she was, Al, do you really think she’d tell you now?” Thea reasoned, slightly unhelpfully in Scorpius’ opinion.

“She’d tell me,” Albus looked at his sister, “wouldn’t you?” He spoke quietly, suddenly seeming vulnerable. “Lily?”

“I’m not dating any of those boys.” She stared down at her feet. “Yet.”

Albus drew in a breath of exclamation. “You like one of them! Lil!”

Lily flapped her hands around her head and blushed. “No, not a conversation I’m having with you, no.”

Albus exchanged a look with Scorpius, who pretended this was news to him too, and looked back at Lily, cocking his head to one side. “That’s nice he came to your meeting. He’ll be doing yoga with you next.”

Lily went quiet and Albus grinned triumphantly. “He _is_ doing yoga with you.”

“It’s _none_ of your business. Did I ever tease you even _once_ when you were so desperately pining after Scorpius? No, I didn’t. But I could have done, the _hours_ you used to spend locked away in your bedroom every time he wrote to you. I didn’t ever tease you, so I would appreciate it if you could extend the same courtesy to me, _Albus.”_

Albus looked a bit taken aback. “Lily, I’m sorry-“

“I am done with this conversation. Goodbye.”

She flounced away with her long, red hair flowing behind her.

“Was I out of line there? I was just teasing her.” Albus looked exceedingly guilty. “I didn’t expect her to react like that.”

Scorpius smiled sadly. “It didn’t seem out of line to me, maybe it’s just a sensitive subject.”

Thea shook her head. “You two are such _boys_ sometimes. Albus, you embarrassed her! She clearly really likes whoever it is and the fact that she even told you that much must have been a big deal. I think you just pushed it a bit.”

Albus raked through his hair with one hand and reached for Scorpius with the other, seeking comfort. Scorpius gave his hand a squeeze.

“It’s hard being a fifteen-year-old girl,” Thea said sympathetically.

“I should go and apologise to her, I misjudged that.” Albus leant over and kissed Scorpius’ cheek. “Enjoy your meeting, see you both later.”

He walked solemnly in the direction Lily had left in and Scorpius exchanged a look with Thea.

“I’ll never fully get this sibling thing,” she shook her head.

“Me neither,” Scorpius agreed as they set off down the corridor together.

There was a moment of quiet until Scorpius noticed Thea was eyeing him suspiciously. “Why doesn’t Albus want to talk about his potions project?” she suddenly asked.

Scorpius gave her a look of confusion.

“Back then at dinner, I wanted to ask him about his project but you stopped me and changed the subject to the Harpies game. Don’t think I didn’t notice. All I’m wondering is why?”

“Because he’s being all _Albus-y_ about it. It’s a big deal to him, whatever it is, and he’s worried about getting it wrong. He won’t even tell me which potion it is.”

Thea raised her eyebrows. “He won’t even tell _you?_ That doesn’t seem right.”

They’d reached the room they always held the prefect meeting in and Thea pushed open the door. Scorpius followed as her words echoed around his head.

“I thought it was a bit weird too, but Albus gets funny about potions.”

“He does, doesn’t he? Is he still hoping to study for his potioneers licence?” Thea put her school bag down at the front of the room and started rifling in it.

Scorpius felt a proud bubble rise up inside him. “ _Yes_ and he’s going to be just wonderful at it.”

Thea accepted the copy of the meeting’s agenda Scorpius handed to her. “Seems strange that we’re in our last months here and everyone’s going to go off and do their own thing.”

“You’ll be training with the Harpies, I might be at Healer school, Albus is getting his potioneer licence.” After each point, Scorpius put another finger up.

“Cole will charm everyone in whatever he ends up doing, Ava’s going to be an Auror, no doubt Immy will be able to make a living modelling if not writing for the Prophet, Rose wants to go travelling.” Thea paused and caught Scorpius’ eye. “Where did the time go? _”_

They mused on her question for a second in a comfortable silence, before it was broken by the first few prefects trickling in and chatting to each other. Scorpius smiled at Thea and started to place a copy of the new rounds rota at each space. He could have done it by magic, but he suddenly found himself needing the steady rhythm of the menial task to quiet the busy thoughts rushing through his mind.

It was the impending sense of change on the horizon that Thea’s words had really brought home. Things _weren’t_ going to be the same once they graduated.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the first audible groan of one of the fifth years reading the new rota, and he tried to look both apologetic and firm in the decision like he’d practised when he and Thea made the new rota. Catching Thea’s eye, he hurried over to try and smooth things out before anything escalated.

“Why have _my_ rounds been changed? It was nothing to do with me,” Lucas Finnigan-Thomas grumbled.

“Lots of swapping and switching was necessary,” Scorpius tried to explain, peering down at the rota. “So now you’re partnered with Ruby.”

“I don’t even _know_ Ruby,” he protested.

“Well,” Scorpius said carefully, “this is your chance to get to know her.”

“All she talks about is _homework_.” Lucas’ dark eyes narrowed into a sulky expression.

Scorpius felt a surge of protectiveness for Ruby at Lucas’ behaviour. “Have _you_ ever spoken to _her_ about something which wasn’t homework?” He tried to keep the accusing tone from his voice, managing to make it sound like a gentle suggestion.

Lucas looked guilty. “Well, no.”

Thea’s voice rang out from the other side of the room, where it looked like she’d been having a similar conversation with another disgruntled fifth year. “Everyone, pair up with your new rounds partner!”

They met in the middle of the room and Scorpius raised his eyebrows in question; this wasn’t on the agenda for the meeting.

“Ice breaker, or something. I think they need it,” she muttered in explanation.

In the end, discussions around the new rounds rota and everyone’s grievances with it took almost the entire meeting to sort out. By the time it was finally over and Scorpius was back in the Slytherin dorms, comfortably cosied up with Albus in his bed, he was exhausted.

“Was it really awful?” Albus said sympathetically, stroking Scorpius’ hair soothingly.

“Awful. Kelly Gates cried when she realised she had to choose between Charms club and doing rounds with her best friend’s ex-boyfriend, or something.”

Albus chuckled softly. “The drama of fifth year.”

His words reminded Scorpius of the conversation they’d had with Lily in the corridor before the meeting.

“Were you and Lily okay in the end?” he asked gently.

Albus sighed and rested his cheek on the top of Scorpius’ head. “Yeah, I apologised properly, but then so did she. She thinks she overreacted to me teasing her.”

“It sounds like she really likes whoever this boy is,” Scorpius commented. “I remember what it felt like to have a crush so huge I didn’t know what to do with it.”

“I don’t, I blocked that out,” Albus laughed and Scorpius relaxed further back against him.

“So, you used to lock yourself in your bedroom every time I wrote to you?” Scorpius said slyly.

Albus pressed a palm to his forehead. “I was working through some stuff.”

Scorpius was almost horizontal by now and he glanced up at Albus. “I used to do the same. I read all of your letters _so_ many times over before we got together.”

Albus grinned. “Can I tell you something embarrassing?”

“Always.”

“The last night of every holiday, when I hadn’t seen you in a while and would be back at school with you the next day, I used to read every single one of your letters. I don’t know why it took me by such surprise to realise I had feelings for you.” Albus was still grinning but Scorpius felt serious.

“That’s not embarrassing at all, that’s the sweetest. _You’re_ the sweetest.” He wriggled upright and took Albus’ face in his hands gently, kissing him softly and pulling away.

“You make me sweeter.” Albus pressed their foreheads together. “Let’s sleep in late tomorrow.”

Scorpius smiled. “And walk around the lake.”

“Maybe go for a fly.”

Scorpius snuggled contentedly into Albus’ side and pulled them both down, scooping the covers up and over their intertwined bodies. The future may have been uncertain, but Scorpius felt like it was more exciting than scary with Albus by his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow guys, thank you so SO much for your response to chapter 1! I was blown away, thank you❤️❤️  
> A couple of mysteries introduced here, I love hearing your predictions so let me know what you think might be going on!  
> Come and say hello on tumblr @littlerose13writes  
> Thanks to Marina and Beks for editing this chapter :)  
> Thanks so much for reading, next chapter coming on Monday!


	3. You and Cake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpius gets some awaited news and a long night in the library ends with a bit of a shock.

_Dear Mr Malfoy,_

_I am writing to inform you that the admissions department of St Mungo’s School of Healing Excellence were most impressed by your written application. We would like to invite you to a formal interview, the details of which are enclosed._

_In preparation for this interview, we ask that you prepare a short oral presentation on an area of Healing you are particularly interested in studying. This can be as general or as specific as you choose. We will be looking for candidates who show an aptitude for learning and an awareness of the challenges of magical Healing. Details can be found overleaf._

_We wish you the very best of luck and look forward to meeting you soon._

_Best wishes,_

_Larissa Kensington_

_Head of Admissions, St Mungo’s School for Healing Excellence_

Scorpius swallowed, his hands shaking as he read the letter through twice, three times, just to make sure he’d read it correctly.

“Well?” Albus said expectantly, and Scorpius knew Albus needed to leave or he was going to be late for Herbology, but he was still sitting there at the breakfast table.

“I… got an interview. I got an interview!” He tossed the letter down and beamed as Albus pulled him into a violent hug.

“Yes! Scor, I’m so proud of you, always knew you would, never doubted you for a second.” His words were rushed and garbled, pressed up against Scorpius’ neck and into his hair. Albus released him and held onto his forearms. “I love you and I’m so proud of you, but I really have to go to Herbology now. But I love you.”

Scorpius chuckled. “Go on, I love you too.”

He turned back to his breakfast with a sigh, realising his euphoria was now giving way to nerves and worry over what his presentation could be on. _An area of Healing he was particularly interested in_. The first place his mind went to was blood maledictions; after all, it was that long summer spent in St Mungo’s with his mother that had inspired Scorpius to become a Healer in the first place.

Yes, he could see himself working in that department, maybe helping to find remedies to those ancient curses like the one which had inflicted Astoria. He was lost in his thoughts when Thea arrived at the breakfast table too.

“Well done, Scorp! Al’s just told me, that’s amazing news. I’m so happy for you!” She hugged him too, although not quite as forcefully as Albus had.

“Thanks, T. I have to do a presentation.”

“Oh you’ll be great at that, you’re an excellent public speaker.” She thought for a second. “You could do a practice run at a prefect meeting if you want? I’m sure that’s part of the privilege of being Head Boy, completely using and abusing our prefects’ time.”

“Yeah, a trial run sounds good.” Scorpius laughed. “How’s the team?”

Thea had been having some trouble with her new Seeker (a mouthy second year called Jimmy Bones who was, in Thea’s words, _annoyingly talented for such a cocky little shit_ ) picking fights with the rest of the team. She’d given him an ultimatum: act like a team player or find another team.

Thea had confided in Scorpius that she was reluctant to let him go, because he was the best by far, and everyone knew Thea wanted the Quidditch cup again this year. It would crush her to graduate without it. Together they’d come to the conclusion that it was a head or heart type decision, and ultimately Thea cared more about her team than winning at all costs.

She wrinkled her nose up. “He’s trying, I think, which is all I can ask for. He’s stopped loudly comparing himself to Harry Potter every time he flies near Al now.”

“That’s progress,” Scorpius laughed. “How did Albus take that?”

“Surprisingly well actually, he found it funny.” Thea shrugged. “If the season continues the way it’s going, we’re looking at another Slytherin-Gryffindor final.”

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. “How’s that going to affect you and Rose?”

She sighed. “I told you, we’re very chilled about it. Quidditch doesn’t come into our relationship.”

It was a relationship today then. Thea and Rose’s on-again-off-again relationship was harder to keep up with than the prefect rounds rota. The thing is that even when they said they were _off,_ nothing seemed to appear all that different to when they weren’t. Neither of them were ever involved with anybody else, the idea was almost inconceivable.

“That’s good, very healthy,” Scorpius smirked and Thea rolled her eyes.

“Don’t start, Scorp. You know Rose and me go with the flow.” Her eyes suddenly lit up. “What are you doing tonight? I feel like we haven’t had a chance to just hang out in _forever_ without it being a Head Boy/Girl thing.”

Scorpius smiled to himself. “Albus isn’t tutoring Astronomy tonight, we’re doing homework in the library together. Then aren’t you studying Arithmancy with him anyway?”

“Oh yeah.” Thea grinned.

“How about after the prefect meeting this week?”

It was Thea’s turn to smile secretively. “I’m training.”

“Albus has training on Thursday? He didn’t say.”

“Not Albus, not the team, just me. And Rose.”

Scorpius grinned. “Oh, I get it, _training_.”

Thea laughed. “I’m serious! The Harpies will start sending scouts to games soon. I’ve got to be on top of my Chasing.”

Scorpius nodded. “So you’re getting some extra hours in by training with your girlfriend?”

She fixed him with a pointed stare. “Not my girlfriend.”

“Sorry, training with your _not-girlfriend_ ,” Scorpius amended.

“Better.” Thea started to spread jam onto a piece of toast. “When do you have to have this presentation done by?”

Scorpius glanced back at the letter and swallowed. “The eighteenth of June. That’s, what, three weeks away?”

“Not long, then. That’s sort of mean of them to put the interviews so close to NEWTs.”

“Nothing like a nice dose of academic pressure.” Scorpius rolled his eyes and immediately realised he was accidentally imitating Albus. “My first exam is Defence, on the fifth of July.”

Thea nodded. “Mine’s the fifth too; Arithmancy.”

“Albus seems stressed about that exam,” Scorpius said with a sigh.

“I don’t know a single person in our class who’s not stressed about the exam. I’m sure he’s told you we’ve been revising together.”

Albus had told Scorpius that; apparently Thea had made them a schedule to follow and, in a moment of panic, he’d simply agreed to do it with her.

The bell rang and Scorpius folded his offer letter up, tucking it into his bag with a little smile to himself. He and Thea had Transfiguration together and they strolled along side by side.

“I already asked if you were free tonight, didn’t I?” Thea mused as they left the Great Hall.

“You did. I’m sorry I’m not.” Scorpius shrugged. “Is everything okay?” he spoke in a softer voice.

Thea smiled brightly. “Totally!” She bumped her shoulder into Scorpius’ side. “I just miss us hanging out.”

“Me too,” Scorpius agreed, climbing the stairs and privately thinking Thea wasn’t being completely honest when she said nothing was wrong.

It wasn’t uncommon for them to spend time together, but it was for Thea to expressly seek it out like that. Scorpius scrutinised her as they took their seats in Transfiguration. Whatever was wrong, she seemed her usual confident, collected self.  


* * *

“You’ve used the phrase _at the point of specific transfiguration_ three times in this paragraph,” Albus muttered, scratching at Scorpius’ coursework with a correcting quill. He glanced up and peered at Scorpius through his hair. “What even is another way to say that?”

Scorpius groaned and allowed his head to fall forwards until he was rested on the library table top. “I feel like I’ve forgotten what every word means.”

Albus gently shook his shoulder. “No, come on, you’ve got this! This essay is your best yet! Of course this is coming from someone who only got an A for OWL Transfiguration-“

“You got an E,” Scorpius lifted his head and frowned at Albus.

“Did I?” Albus looked vaguely pleased with himself. He reached out and brushed Scorpius’ hair from his eyes. “Point is, you have nothing to worry about.”

Scorpius finally lifted his head and nodded glumly. “I’m worrying about this Smash presentation,” he admitted.

“Do you want to talk it through with me instead of this?” Albus gestured to Scorpius’ Transfiguration coursework.

“No, you have Arithmancy to be doing with Thea if you’re finished with that.”

Albus sighed. “Arithmancy can wait a few minutes. Anything to make you smile again.”

Scorpius couldn’t help it; an uncontrollable grin took over his face at how sweet his boyfriend was. “You’re adorable.”

“Really? I thought that was a bit lame.” He pulled a face.

“Not lame, adorable.” Scorpius leant forwards and lightly kissed Albus. “And it worked.” He pointed to his beaming grin.

Albus checked his watch. “I have time. Theatrical won’t be there yet.”

Scorpius snorted. “How is studying with her?” he asked curiously. He wasn’t sure he could imagine Albus’ casual approach working with Thea’s hyper-organised system.

Albus pulled a face. “It’s better than studying Arithmancy by myself, but she’s a bit… erratic.”

“Erratic? Thea?”

“Yeah, it’s weird, I think something’s up.” He shrugged. “But she’d tell us if there was something badly wrong, wouldn’t she?”

“No, Albus,” Scorpius smirked. “Thea is the most stubborn, independent person I know. I agree though, something’s going on. She’s not quite herself at the moment.”

“I hope she’s okay.” Albus sighed pensively. “Okay, presentation, hit me.”

Scorpius rooted in his bag for the letter and smoothed it out across the table. “ _An area of Healing I’m particularly interested in_ . That seems obvious, I’m going to talk about blood curses. _”_ Scorpius went quiet. “So I need to research some of the history of Healing blood curses, and then use some anecdotal stuff about my mum.”

Albus was watching him think out loud, a tender expression on his face.

“I could compare case studies,” Scorpius heard his voice increase in pitch as the ideas started forming in his mind and he reached for a nearby scrap of parchment. “The social aspect could come into it, too!”

Somewhere in his mind, a blurred vision of what the presentation could contain started to form and he quickly scribbled down some of the ideas in his head with Albus’ correcting quill. The red ink shone brightly on the page as Scorpius had the sudden urge to get started right away. He glanced up at Albus in excitement.

“How long are you going to be doing Arithmancy for?”

“Usually takes about an hour, give or take,” Albus shrugged.

Scorpius nodded, deep in thought. “Okay, I’ll do an hour’s work on this then, meet you after.” He started to jot down bullet points with the ideas rushing around his head.

“Stay later if you want!” Albus suggested quickly. “I can tell you’re really excited.”

Scorpius smiled sheepishly. “Would you completely hate me? I’ll make it up to you, I promise, but if I do the research tonight, I can start writing the presentation sooner.”

Albus waved a hand casually. “Of course, Scor! I know how important this is to you. I might spend some time working on my potions project. I set up an experiment and it should be ready to test. Do you want me to check on your Felix while I’m there? It might need stirring.”

Scorpius’ Felix Felicis was only in its very early stages where he’d started it the day before, but Albus was already keen to hear about how it was going.

“Would you? That would be such a help.” He kissed Albus on the nose. “Thanks, love.”

A smile grew on Albus’ face. “You’ve never called me _love_ before.”

“Haven’t I? It feels like I ought to have. I’ve loved you for ages.”

“But that’s what I call _you_ and… I’m rubbing off on you, Scor.” He nudged Scorpius with his shoulder.

“I think it’s only normal for that to happen. I’ve spent more time with you over the last seven years than anybody else.” Scorpius grinned slyly. “And it’s a two way thing.”

“It is?”

“Yes, are you forgetting last week when you dropped that stack of books and muttered _sherbet lemons_ while you picked them up?”

Albus smiled. “I wondered if you’d heard that. You’re a good influence on me, Scor.” He started to gather his work together. “Well, if I’m not in the common room when you get back, then I’ll be in bed.”

Scorpius smirked and reached for his hand. “Can I wake you up?”

“Might you be back that late?” Albus squeezed his hand uncertainly.  

“No, I suppose not. I just like that cute, sleepy thing you do when you only half wake up and attempt to cuddle me but fall back asleep straight away. I’ve always wondered if you’d do that if somebody else got into bed with you.”

“Of course that’s only for you!” Albus sulked. “I’ll be awake, and I promise cuddles.”

“Hope Arithmancy isn’t too horrible,” Scorpius smiled sympathetically as Albus started to gather his books up.

“See you later, love.” Albus wrapped an arm around Scorpius and kissed his cheek. “Don’t stay too late.”

“I won’t,” Scorpius said, reminding himself too. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” Albus waved and Scorpius watched him walk away, sighing and returning to the task ahead of him.

He took a deep breath and reached into his bag, removing a small notebook bound in pale, cream leather. Scorpius had developed a bit of a thing about notebooks over the years and he had quite the collection. They contained a mixture of interesting notes he’d found while reading and a few passages of stories he’d written himself. Nothing extensive, just a setting description here or a piece of dialogue there. It was something the therapist he used to see had suggested when Scorpius shared his love of reading, and he found it very beneficial to collect and organise his thoughts.

Today’s notebook came from a beautiful market in Nice; he’d had it since last summer but had kept it untouched so far. Scorpius had felt like its purpose would become clear to him and he just hadn’t been able to bring himself to use it, until now. It was the perfect place to plan and write his Smash presentation.

Scorpius glanced over the rough notes he’d made whilst talking to Albus. He would need to start with gathering research and case studies, so he left all of his work spread out over the table and headed over to the section of the library containing books dedicated to Healing; it was rather large but Scorpius knew his general way around it.

With a sizeable stack of potential books, Scorpius made his way back to the occupied table and selected a particularly interesting volume titled _A Compendium of Healing History._ One quick glance at the contents page made Scorpius sure he would be wanting his own copy of this book. He settled in to start taking some notes, humming ever so softly to himself as he did.

What must have been at least an hour later, Scorpius had constructed a rough plan for his presentation and gathered several notes as well as a list of further reading material he wanted to use. He collected up a few of the books he no longer needed and went to exchange them for some new ones, wishing he’d thought to choose a table closer to the Healing section.

He ran his finger along the spines of several books, deeply focused on finding the volume he was looking for: _Ancestral Curses and Hereditary Magic_ by Arganthia Quipp. He was so engrossed in reading each title that it was quite a shock to collide directly into somebody else coming the other way doing exactly the same thing.

“Ow! Sorry!”

“Scorpius! Hi!”

It was Thea, with a book tucked under her arm and a flustered expression on her face. She adjusted the book and held it to her chest protectively.

“I was just doing some Charms homework,” she said off-handedly. “Big essay to finish, need to research for it.” She tapped the book under her arm and the shelf she’d been perusing, then blanched and looked back up at Scorpius in a panic.

Scorpius frowned, trying to recall a Charms essay about Healing. “Which essay-“

“Not Charms! Silly me, because obviously you would have the same homework as me if it was Charms. I meant Arithmancy. Sorry, my brain is on overload these days.”

“Are you still doing homework with Albus?” Scorpius glanced at his watch, realising how late it had got.

“Oh, er, no, we finished that and he went to work on Potions. This is another homework thing. Anyway, what are you doing?” she spoke brightly, tucking the book further into her arms.

Scorpius briefly explained his plans for the presentation and Thea nodded politely and wished him luck with it, her arms still clutched tightly around the book she’d picked out.

“Thea, are you alright?” Scorpius couldn’t help but ask.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just having a stressful week, lots of deadlines.” She sounded genuine then her face broke into a wicked grin. “Albus told me you’re moving in together.”

Scorpius blinked at her. “Did he? How did that come up?”

“Well, I asked him,” Thea said off-handedly. “And then he went bright red so it was sort of obvious. That’s so exciting though! Will you have a housewarming party? It can be our group’s first out-of-Hogwarts event!”

“Er, we hadn’t really talked about it much further than… yes, I expect so.” He smiled politely.

Thea grinned, gave him a quick hug and hurried away. He smiled sadly after her; she was the most stressed Scorpius had ever seen her, but if anything was going to break the unshakeable Thea Jordan, it was seventh year.

As he carried the books he’d selected back to his table, Scorpius made a mental note to check in with Thea later that week and make sure she was okay. She had a tendency to push herself beyond her own limits from time to time. He sighed and sat down with his books, stifling a small yawn and casting a word-finding charm over the first one, settling in to take notes.

He stayed in the library for what must have been a couple of hours more, by which time most of the lamps had been extinguished and ancient Madam Pince was reminding the few students left that curfew was approaching. Scorpius reached a natural pause in his work, gazed contentedly over his notes from the evening and gathered them all up along with a particularly interesting book he’d found which he wanted to continue reading.

He felt a bit guilty that he’d stayed in the library for so long. Albus must have finished his potioning a while ago, but Scorpius was sure he’d understand. He was now at the stage where he’d done enough research to start writing the presentation, which was a nice feeling to leave the library with.

Albus wasn’t in the common room and Scorpius smiled to himself, enjoying the idea that he was waiting for him. He’d probably have his music playing softly, or better still, maybe he’d be strumming on his guitar, and he’d be sat cross legged on top of the bed in a hoodie, his hair all fluffy and Albus-y.

What he wasn’t expecting, was to find both his and Albus’ bed empty. He paused for a second at the door, scanning around the empty dorm, then sitting atop his bed, disappointed.

He reminded himself not to take it personally, and that Albus didn’t know he was back from the library yet. Even though it was almost curfew, and Albus had said he would be waiting for him, and Scorpius had been really looking forward to it.

With a resigned sigh, Scorpius started to get ready for bed, knowing the heavy feeling in his heart was due to Albus not being there. He deliberately took as long as possible brushing his teeth and putting pyjamas on, glancing up at every small noise in case it was Albus coming back.

Instead, Cole arrived and fixed Scorpius with a questioning look. “You okay, mate? Bad day?”

Scorpius sighed. “Not really, just the usual seventh year stresses.”

“Tell me about it.” Cole pushed his light brown hair back with one hand. “I spent hours on homework tonight and I _still_ haven’t finished my Care of Magical Creatures coursework. I tell you, I’m actually looking forward to the start of exams when everything’s handed in and all we have to do is revise.”

Scorpius thought about the start of exams and his Smash presentation and gulped. “Let’s not wish the year away.”

Cole was halfway out of his uniform. “True, I do quite like it here.” He looked around the dormitory. “It’ll be weird, won’t it, not seeing you lot everyday, living back with my dad and Oliver full time, trying to work out what to do with my life. I take it you’re gonna move in with Al?”

“Did he tell you that?”

Was Albus just going around announcing it to everyone?

Albus and Cole were good friends, but Scorpius would have been surprised if he’d been discussing their tentative moving plans with him. It wasn’t really a very Albus-y thing to do, and Cole wasn’t like Thea, who could get anyone to tell her anything.

“Nah, just said he wasn’t moving back in with his parents so I sort of assumed. Am I wrong? Are you heading back to Wiltshire?”

Scorpius shook his head and felt a tiny smile at the corners of his mouth. “We talked about it, yes, if we can find a place. Hopefully I’ll be in Healer school and Albus will-“ He stopped himself; Albus probably wouldn’t want him to broadcast his dream around. “Albus will be working too.”

The door pushed open and Scorpius looked up instantly, hoping it would be Albus, but it was just Matthew Higgs and Mason Pucey, their other two roommates. They both nodded in Scorpius and Cole’s direction and started getting ready for bed.

“Makes sense, the two of you living together.” Cole threw himself face down on top of his bed and started rooting around for pyjamas. “Ultimate test of your relationship though. If you can live together, you can survive _anything.”_

“Come on, we’ve shared a dorm for nearly seven years.”

Cole grinned. “Not the same thing though, is it?” He looked around the dorm. “Where is Al anyway?”

Scorpius shrugged. “Working on his potions project I assume, I thought he’d be back by now.” He tried not to give away how disappointed he was that Albus hadn’t been there when he got back; it was a stupid thing to be upset about.

“He does love his potions,” Cole said vaguely. “Sometimes I regret not taking Potions this year.”

“You shouldn’t, these final projects are enormously time-consuming.” Scorpius sighed. “I’ve barely started brewing one potion yet and it’s taken hours.”

Cole grinned to himself. “A bit of quality time over a hot cauldron with Professor Jacobs sounds just the ticket.”

Cole’s crush on the potions professor was a long standing joke which was mainly substantiated by Cole himself.

“Reckon I’ve got a shot once we’ve graduated?”

“Er,” Scorpius had absolutely no idea how to respond to that. “I mean, well, wouldn’t that be a bit weird?”

“I don’t think so, she’s never taught me. And she’s really young too, only twenty-two or something. When I’m not a Hogwarts student anymore...”

“Nah, no way, Cole.” Pucey laughed disparagingly. “She’s not going to date some kid.”

“I’m quite literally not a kid, Mase,” Cole argued.

“Didn’t you guys hear, some bloke who was in Gryffindor last year,” Higgs looked conspiratorial, “got top marks in his potions project because he was shagging her when he was supposedly _working on his project._ It was like a secret code they had.”

Scorpius goggled at him. It sounded like something from one of those dramatic, American romance novels Imogen was always recommending to him. That sort of thing didn’t happen at Hogwarts.

“That’s the biggest load of dragon dung I’ve ever heard, Matt.” Pucey pushed him roughly onto the bed. “Who was this bloke?”

Higgs shrugged. “Dunno, heard it from Melissa Lockhart, said she used to date him.”

Cole snorted and Scorpius knew why. “Mate, _Melissa Lockhart?_ The one who spread a rumour that Viktor Krum personally taught her to do a wronski feint and it turned out she’d actually just queued for hours to meet him at a book signing?”

“Don’t say that,” Pucey teased. “Matty _loves_ her.”

Higgs looked put out. “I do not. I just went to the Yule Ball with her last year, that was it. Didn’t want to go stag.”

“Went to the Yule Ball and spent all night snogging her in a rose bush,” Pucey amended with a grin.

“At least I was snogging _someone_.”

The two bickered while they changed into pyjamas. Scorpius stared uncertainly at his empty bed; he’d dragged out his nightly routine as much as possible and Albus _still_ wasn’t back. His roommates were climbing into bed, turning the lights out.

Scorpius glumly got into bed, propping the pillows up and sitting against them, pulling his duvet all around him. He sighed, wondering if he was overreacting to Albus not being back. It was past curfew, what if Albus was in trouble?

Just as Scorpius started to feel anxiety climbing up his throat, the door pushed open quietly and Scorpius recognised Albus’ footsteps padding across the room and kicking his shoes off. He opened the hangings to Scorpius’ bed and flopped down, still fully dressed and looking exhausted.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around Scorpius and pressing his face into his neck. “Started a new experiment, s’not an excuse, I should have been here.”

Scorpius turned and gently took Albus’ face in his hands. “Hey, don’t worry. I understand, nothing gets in the way of you and potioning. It’s not like this was a date.” Scorpius kissed him and Albus smiled.

“No, but I said I’d be here, and we have so little time together anyway.” Albus rolled over and sat up, pulling his Slytherin jumper over his head and discarding it. “How’s your presentation going?”

“Did lots of research, so I can start writing it next.” Scorpius watched Albus take his tie off and unbutton his shirt.

“Nice, well done.” Albus smiled, summoning his pyjamas. “I’m glad it was productive for you.”

“How was Thea? I saw her in the library after you did Arithmancy together.”

Albus paused for a second, pulling his pyjamas on. “I don’t know, she just seemed sort of normal, maybe a bit more stressed than usual, and she was quite keen to finish now you mention it.”

Scorpius thought about his encounter with Thea in the library. “Is your assignment to do with Healing?”

Midway through levitating his uniform into the laundry basket at the end of his bed, Albus looked at Scorpius strangely. “My Arithmancy assignment? No, it has nothing to do with Healing, it’s Arithmancy. Why do you ask?”

“Well, Thea was in the-“ Scorpius stopped in a moment of realisation. “She lied, she didn’t need that book for Arithmancy.”

“I don’t know what you’re on about, Scor.” Albus shrugged.

“Never mind,” Scorpius murmured, his thoughts whizzing back and forth.

Now dressed for bed, Albus climbed under the covers and snuggled up against Scorpius, murmuring into his ear.“I should take you on a proper date soon, it’s been a while.”

“To Hogsmeade?” Scorpius cuddled into Albus.

“Not Hogsmeade, somewhere better. A real date.”

“What if I take _you_ on a date?” Scorpius whispered and flipped their positions so he was wrapped around Albus - their usual sleeping posture.

Albus wriggled back into him. “Where would you take me?”

“Somewhere nice, somewhere with cake,” Scorpius mumbled sleepily.

“Mmm, you and cake. Sounds nice.”

“I’m glad you’re here now,” Scorpius said vaguely, reaching over to cup Albus’ cheek. “You work so hard.”

“Nah, I should have done more Arithmancy, but I wanted to get going with this new experiment. Jenna had this great idea and it helped a lot so we ended up working on it all night together.”

“Who?” Scorpius was only half-awake.

“Sorry, Professor Jacobs.” Albus yawned and curled into Scorpius. “M’exhausted. Good night, I love you.”

Scorpius’ eyes were suddenly wide open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Please let me know what you thought, it makes my day!  
> As usual, thanks to Marina and Beks for beta-ing :) and credit to Marina for the idea of Scorpius saying the names of sweets instead of swearing!  
> I’m on tumblr @littlerose13writes  
> Have an excellent week, loves! New chapter coming on Monday❤️


	4. An Early Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpius can’t stop dwelling on Albus’ words but a Hogsmeade weekend filled with ice cream and surprises is a welcome remedy.

It was stupid to worry or even think about it, ridiculous in fact, but Scorpius couldn’t help but feel a distinct level of hostility towards Professor Jacobs in double Potions that Friday. He’d pushed the topic to the back of his mind all week, but now, as he stood over his cauldron and noticed Professor Jacobs coming towards him, he felt a distinct level of annoyance rise within him. 

He couldn’t meet her eye when she enquired about his Felix Felicis and he found himself only half focused on his work, the other part of his mind replaying everything he was worried about as he tried to talk himself out of it.

_ Some bloke who was in Gryffindor last year got top marks. _

_ It was like a secret code they had. _

_ Jenna had this great idea.  _

The rumour about the Gryffindor boy from last year was obviously untrue - Professor Jacobs wouldn’t still be in a job if it was - and it didn’t matter anyway because this was about  _ Albus.  _ His boyfriend, Albus, who he trusted implicitly.

Had he once teased Albus for having a crush on Professor Jacobs? Yes. But that’s all it had been: teasing. Albus didn’t  _ really  _ fancy her. There couldn’t  _ really  _ be anything going on between them when Albus was working on his project. 

Scorpius attempted some rational thought and mentally listed the many, many reasons why it was ridiculous to feel jealous. For a start, it wasn’t as if Albus himself had given him any reason to think there was anything to be jealous of, this was all in Scorpius’ head and based on what was probably an untrue rumour. Moreover, even if the story about the Gryffindor boy was true, Albus was Scorpius’ boyfriend and he had no reason to believe that was about to change. And anyway, Albus didn’t even like girls. 

He stared into the depths of his Felix Felicis as he unraveled all of his thought patterns. He hated that he was experiencing what felt like jealousy, because that would imply he didn’t trust Albus and that there was something to be jealous of. Professor Jacobs was a  _ teacher. _

Annoyingly, and not for the first time, Cole’s words floated into his brain:  _ She’s really young, only twenty-two or something. Reckon I’ve got a shot once we’ve graduated? _

“Scorpius, how’s Felix?” 

Scorpius looked up from his cauldron with a start, flustered, and Professor Jacobs peered kindly in. He watched her examine the bubbling potion and, in a moment of childish self indulgence, imagined scowling furiously at the side of her head. 

“Nice!” she said, withdrawing her head. From her enthusiastic tone, Scorpius half expected her to offer him a high five. “It’s looking wonderful. When are you hoping to start testing these?” She gestured to his carefully labelled vials of Deprehensia, the potion used to test for traces of Felix Felicis. 

“This should be ready by the end of next week, then I can get going,” he explained quietly. 

“Wonderful, I’ll just check the demiguise hair hasn’t been overheated” she muttered, going back to examining his potion. It was one of the conditions of his experiment, that the Felix Felicis had to be closely monitored by his professor before he was allowed to feed it to his classmates. Scorpius was following the instructions precisely, he  _ knew  _ the demiguise hair hadn’t been overheated, but he stood there lamely while she checked anyway and his eyes wandered around the classroom. 

Friday Potions lessons were always a strange mix between relaxed and stressful. They were relaxed because it was the seventh years’ time to work on their projects, so everyone was quietly working over their cauldrons. But as each Friday session ticked by, the ever-looming deadline got closer. 

Albus was interesting on Fridays too. It was the only morning of the week they started their days at the same time and with the same lesson, meaning they could eat breakfast together and walk to class. Scorpius felt like he had his boyfriend all to himself, until they stepped into the Potions dungeon and Albus completely lost himself in his project. It was rare for Albus to talk to  _ anyone  _ during Friday potions since they’d started their projects, apart from Professor Jacobs, with whom he conversed extensively in low mutters. 

It hadn’t ever bothered Scorpius before, but it was all he could think about today. All he’d been able to think about since Tuesday night, really. 

Scorpius reminded himself it was nothing personal and of course Albus wasn’t going to take time out of his precious potioning hours to chat with his boyfriend. He still hadn’t told Scorpius what he was experimenting with, but it involved about fifty different crystal phials with tiny amounts of different ingredients spread all around him. That day, he’d been switching between discussing something on a clipboard with Professor Jacobs, and staring at it intently himself, looking unfairly adorable in Scorpius’ opinion; unfair, because he couldn’t rush over and kiss him in the middle of Potions. 

“Demiguise is fine. This should be a very successful experiment, Scorpius.” Professor Jacobs looked pleased. “And I’ve got your signed ethics forms, you’ve got your test subjects all lined up, so as soon as this turns gold, you’ll be ready to go!” She gestured to the Felix Felicis enthusiastically. 

Scorpius’ potion project had turned out to be surprisingly straightforward. He was testing five different versions of the Deprehensia potion, used to screen professional athletes before games for any traces of Felix Felicis, which was, of course, illegal in professional sports. It was made with scurvy grass, which was expensive and difficult to source. Scorpius was hoping to ascertain the lowest amount of scurvy grass required for the potion to still be effective. He would give his test subjects a small dose of Felix Felicis then have them use each of the five versions of Deprehensia. 

Thea and Rose had jumped at the chance to be test subjects, Albus was more than willing to help Scorpius and he’d also convinced Cole to take part. Not that it had taken much convincing; Cole had agreed before he’d even explained what the project was. The trickiest part had been brewing the Felix Felicis, because it needed to be perfect for the experiment to stand any chance of working. 

“I’m looking forward to it, Professor.” Scorpius glanced at his watch, realising the lesson wasn’t far from being over, and he still had loads to do. “I think I’ll need to work on this more at the weekend.” He pointed to his Felix Felicis. “It’s not quite finished. Will the workshop be open?” 

Professor Jacobs looked sympathetic. “Don’t spend your whole weekend working, Scorpius. Work-life balance is important. It’s a Hogsmeade weekend! Spend it with your boyfriend.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “I hadn’t realised you and Albus were a couple, nobody told me!” 

Scorpius spluttered a bit, not sure how to respond. He’d never discussed his relationship with Albus with any of the teachers before, although knowing looks told him somehow they all seemed to know. It had certainly never occurred to him to announce it to any of the professors, he’d assumed Professor Jacobs just knew too or more likely didn’t particularly care. 

“Er, yes, we’re going to go to Hogsmeade,” he said awkwardly. 

Although as he thought about it, Scorpius considered Albus’ different behaviour in Potions and perhaps it was understandable that Professor Jacobs wouldn’t have noticed anything between him and Albus. Albus barely talked to him in Potions. 

It was no different today, Albus lost in his own potioning world, until the lesson was over. He held Scorpius’ hand the whole way to dinner. Albus had been his usual affectionate self when they were together, nothing had changed in his behaviour, it was just Scorpius’ mindset after Albus’ so very casual use of Professor Jacobs’ first name. He knew this feeling was all in his head, so the only way to resolve it would be to talk to Albus. 

“Can’t wait to spend the day with you tomorrow,” Albus said sweetly, swinging their hands as they walked. 

“ _ I  _ can’t wait to see how cute you look in glasses,” Scorpius shot back and Albus blushed. 

He could talk to Albus about this, couldn’t he? He could tell Albus anything, and they’d promised to always be open and honest with each other. All he had to do was explain to Albus he was feeling a tiny bit insecure about all the alone time he was spending with Professor Jacobs to the point where he was on a first name basis with her. 

Scorpius’ stomach churned at the prospect; there was no way of saying that which didn’t sound like he was accusing Albus of being unfaithful. 

Albus, unaware of Scorpius’ inner turmoil, leaned over to whisper in his ear. “Early night tonight?” 

Scorpius grinned.  _ Early night  _ was their code for ‘let’s spend the night doing anything but sleeping’ which was likely wildly obvious to their friends, but they still used it. 

Although when dinner ended and they went back to the common room, it seemed more likely they would actually have an early night. Albus was comfortably seated so close to Scorpius he was basically in his lap, and he was sleepily playing with the back of Scorpius’ hair, his head drooping on Scorpius’ shoulder. 

“Did you know we only have three Hogsmeade weekends left, including tomorrow?” Ava mused, flicking through her diary then looking up for a reaction.

“Yes, and then we graduate and we can just… go to Hogsmeade whenever we want to,” Rose replied in a bored voice. She was painting Thea’s nails on the large, circular table in the Slytherin common room where they all tended to gather after a long week. 

“It’s not the same though, is it.” Ava checked something off in her diary with a quill and looked over at Cole. “D’you get a date in the end?” 

Cole wiggled his eyebrows. “Why, are you looking for one?” 

Imogen snorted. “So, no.” 

“Nah,” Cole shrugged. 

“We should all go together, a big group, like in third year,” Ava insisted. 

Albus snorted. “Me and Scor will stay here and hide in the dorms then.”

“I didn’t mean  _ literally  _ like third year,” Ava sighed.

“We have plans,” Scorpius smiled serenely. “But maybe we could all meet for a drink?”

“Broomsticks at, say, three?” Imogen suggested. “I’m meeting with the Vintage Robe Revival club in the morning anyway. We’re going to that new second hand shop.” 

“The  _ what  _ robe  _ what  _ club?” Thea looked at Imogen, intrigued. 

“Vintage Robe Revival, it’s really a lot of fun and it’s a great way to practise charms.” Imogen smiled sweetly. 

“Sounds interesting,” Thea smiled. “We’re in for the Broomsticks.” 

Rose gave her a strange look as if to say  _ we are?  _ and then nodded and smiled. “Who’s next?” She held her nail varnish brush aloft and waved it invitingly while Thea admired her now green nails. “Albus?” She waved it temptingly.

“Nah, I’m good, I don’t like it much,” he shook his head. “I let Lily do it sometimes and it never bloody comes off.” 

“Come on! I’m testing it for Dad.  _ DiviNAILtion.  _ The name’s a work in progress. It changes colour based on how your next twenty-four hours are going to go, could be fun?” 

“Mine’s burgundy,” Imogen wiggled her fingers, “which means there’s an unexpected win on the horizon.” 

“Forest green is putting a plan into motion,” Thea explained. 

“I failed Divination, I want to try!” Cole came flying over and stuck his thumb out at Rose. “Paint me!” 

Rose chuckled and obliged. 

“Lily paints your nails?” Scorpius asked in a low voice, his arm wrapped around Albus’ shoulder. 

“Summers are long when you’re not around,” Albus protested. 

“What colour did she paint them?” Scorpius said quietly into Albus’ ear.

“I dunno, black?”

He kissed Albus’ hair. “That’s hot, you know.” 

Scorpius was still holding out hope for an  _ early night  _ but Albus seemed to be exhausted. 

“It’s turning red!” Cole exclaimed excitedly, waving his finger around. “What does red mean?”

Ava consulted the booklet which came with the nail varnish. “What shade of red?”

Thea took Cole’s hand in hers and inspected his nails. “This isn’t red, it’s pink, sort of a bright fuschia,” she declared.

“It’s like the colour my hair used to be in fifth year!” Imogen added after checking Cole’s nails herself. 

“Really? You think that’s hot?” Albus whispered while Ava flicked through the booklet.

“Yes,” Scorpius muttered. “It’s you, of course that’s hot.” 

“Love you,” Albus murmured and turned to press a quick kiss to the side of his cheek. 

“It doesn’t have anything for fuschia pink,” Ava looked up in confusion. “Pastel pink is supposed to be an act of love, though.” 

“Damn, if only I had a date,” Cole laughed, looking over at Albus and Scorpius. “Look at these two, all loved up. I’m so jealous.” 

Scorpius grinned and rested his cheek on top of Albus’ head, squeezing him in close. He was used to their friends commenting on how  _ cute  _ they were together, and he thought they were absolutely right. He and Albus were the most adorable couple there ever was, even if Albus was definitely rolling his eyes and sighing right now. 

“Aw, Coley,” Ava ruffled his light hair. “Don’t be jealous, we’ll have the best third to last time in Hogsmeade any seventh year has ever had.” 

Albus turned to whisper in Scorpius’ ear. “I’m tired, need an early night.”

Scorpius felt his expression light up. 

* * *

Early nights usually lead to late mornings, and that Saturday was no exception. It was almost midday by the time Scorpius and Albus were dressed and ready to leave for the village.

“Do you think I’ll need my cloak?” Albus held it out uncertainly and Scorpius shook his head.

“It’s very sunny, you’ll most likely just end up carrying it. Or I’ll end up carrying it for you.” 

Albus opened his mouth to protest this but Scorpius cut off whatever he was going to say with a kiss. 

“Just for that,” Albus smirked as he pulled away, “I’ll make sure to take extra long in the apothecary until you’re so bored of waiting you’ll wish you had my cloak to entertain you.” 

Scorpius took his hand and started to leave the dormitory. “I won’t wait for you, I’ve got a date with my secret other boyfriend then anyway.” 

“Damn, forgot about him. What’s his name again?” 

“Hector,” Scorpius said quickly. “Hector... McHectorson.” 

“Is that why you’ve been doodling Scorpius McHectorson all over your parchment when you thought I wasn’t looking?” Albus said very seriously. “Has a lovely ring to it. Or will you hyphenate? Scorpius Malfoy-McHectorson?” 

“McHectorson-Malfoy actually,” Scorpius laughed as they strolled along together hand in hand. 

“So what’s the plan for today? After coffee of course.”

Scorpius eyed him suspiciously. Albus knew exactly what the plan was for their Hogsmeade trip that day. 

“Glasses,” he said simply.

Albus sighed. “I know  _ that _ but that’s not going to take  _ all day,  _ is it? That’s not much fun for you.”

“I want to help you choose,” Scorpius said genuinely. They were outside by now and the sun was shining, casting a warm glow over his face. 

“ _ If  _ I even need to get some,” Albus countered hopefully. “Where do you want to go today? Scrivenshafts? Parchment and Page?”

Scorpius smiled. “Ooh, yes please. You could pop into Teddy’s too, while I’m next door in Parchment and Page. You know I could spend all day in there.”

Albus pulled a face. “You sound like my grandma,” He put on an exaggerated old woman’s voice which sounded nothing like his grandmother. “ _ I’m surprised you can see a thing with all that hair in your eyes, Albus dear. You need a proper haircut, not this silly flicking around business.”  _ He flicked his artfully messy fringe to one side with a toss of his head in demonstration. 

“No,” Scorpius kissed his cheek and smiled. “No haircut. Your hair’s perfect, just like you.” 

Albus shrugged. “Why do you want me to go to Teddy’s then?”

“To get some tangle taming potion to use before Quidditch.”

Albus made another face. 

“ _ Because _ ,” Scorpius started slowly and deliberately, “the less time you take brushing your hair after Quidditch, the more time we both have for  _ other  _ activities.” 

That was good, he was proud of that. Albus made it so easy to be flirty. 

Albus just looked at him in silence for a second. Then he sprung into action and grabbed Scorpius’ hand. “So Teddy’s first then?” 

It was bright and warm in the village and of course full of Hogwarts students, clustering around the shop displays and larking about. Scorpius has split up from Albus and headed straight for Scrivenshafts, not that he even needed a new quill but there was something hugely satisfying about seeing the elegant feathers lined up in rows. 

Beside a display of speciality writing quills, Scorpius spotted Ruby Chambers stroking a peacock feather with interest. He smiled to himself and approached her.

“Hello, Ruby.” 

She jumped a bit in surprise and turned around, a grin spreading across her face when she saw who it was. “Scorpius,” she said breathlessly, putting the peacock feather quill back. “Hi, hello.” 

“That’s beautiful,” Scorpius pointed at the quill. “Did you know their feathers are covered in little crystal-like structures? They reflect the light and make the colours that vibrant.”

“No, I didn’t. How did you know that?” Ruby looked impressed. 

Scorpius blushed. “Oh, I have pet peacocks at home.” 

“You’re so  _ cool,”  _ Ruby gushed, her eyes shining and Scorpius felt himself blush. 

“Oh, no, I’m not,” he muttered uncomfortably. “Er, are you having a good day?” 

Ruby nodded and smiled politely. “Yes, it’s a nice day.” She hesitated and started to touch the peacock quill again. “Did you come by yourself?” 

“No, with Albus, he’ll be along in a second,” he explained. “Actually I’m meeting him in Parchment and Page.” 

“That shop is my  _ favourite,”  _ Ruby exclaimed. “They make the sweetest birthday cards, I want to get one for my sister.” She blinked in excitement at the prospect. 

Scorpius laughed and gestured at the shelves around them. “I should have gone straight there. I don’t need another quill.”

“Me neither,” Ruby sighed. “I just like the displays.” 

Scorpius grinned because he was always saying exactly that about Scrivenshafts. He felt a rush of affection for Ruby. 

“Come with me if you want, to Parchment and Page,” he commented casually. “Albus’ll be along in a minute but I want to look at the diaries for next year.” 

Ruby looked stunned. “Really? No, it’s okay, you’ll want to get on and meet Albus.” She looked hesitant and it occurred to Scorpius that she might have felt strange about leaving her friends to go next door with him. Maybe he was being a bit too friendly, but he couldn’t help it. Something about Ruby made him want to be excessively nice to her. 

“It’s alright, if you want to, or I could just see you in there if you want to wait for your friends,” he added casually, so Ruby wouldn’t feel any pressure. Her reaction made him worry that he shouldn’t have even asked and that he’d put her in an uncomfortable position. 

“Oh, yes. Good idea, I’ll just wait for my friends,” Ruby grinned in what looked like relief and Scorpius felt a bit guilty. “I really should be getting back to them. Well, goodbye, Scorpius!” 

She raised her hand in a cheery wave and set off around the corner, and within seconds Scorpius heard the sound of giggling; Ruby must have found her friends. Smiling to himself, Scorpius left Scrivenshafts and entered the shop next door. 

Scorpius was strolling up and down the displays in Parchment and Page, admiring some handsome, leather-bound notebooks when Albus appeared at his side, handing him a cardboard coffee cup.

“Chocolate and peppermint, tea of the day,” he smiled as Scorpius accepted it.

He took a sip and sighed in contentment at the sweet flavour. “That’s lovely.” 

“Good.” Albus sipped his own coffee and reached into his pocket, withdrawing a small bottle. “And I bought this from Teddy.” He had a strange look in his eye as he handed it over.

“The tangle taming potion?” Scorpius turned the bottle over in his hands and laughed. “This isn’t tangle taming potion.” 

“I know, that’s for you.” He grinned mischievously. 

Scorpius stared at him incredulously. “Albus, this is pink hair dye potion!” 

Albus shrugged. “Thought it would be fun. You’d look adorable with pink hair.”

Scorpius smiled to himself, picturing his dad’s confused reaction if he came home with pink hair. Then he shook his head in irritation. “What about my interview for Smash? I can’t turn up with pink hair.”

Albus smiled and took his hand. “Why can’t you?”

Scorpius hesitated. “I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem professional somehow.”

Albus shrugged. “Do it after the interview then.”

Scorpius opened his mouth and then closed it again. He’d never considered doing anything remotely adventurous to his hair before, but he knew now Albus had suggested it, he wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it. 

“You don’t have to, it was just an idea.” Albus went to take the potion back but Scorpius smiled and pocketed it.

“I’ll think about it.” 

Albus leant against him for a second and his gaze drifted to the display of notebooks Scorpius had been browsing. “Getting one of these?”

Picking up his favourite on display, Scorpius sighed and ran his finger over the soft leather. “No, I don’t need another notebook.”

“I didn’t know you owned any notebooks?” 

Scorpius rolled his eyes at his boyfriend’s dry tone referring to his rather extensive collection of notebooks. 

“I don’t need it,” he muttered, mainly to himself as he longingly stroked the cover one last time. “Come on, let’s go, your appointment is in five minutes.”

Albus shrugged and accepted Scorpius’ hand as they left the paper shop empty-handed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you leave this place without buying anything. Are you feeling okay?”

Scorpius smiled and gave Albus’ hand a squeeze. “Never felt better. We’re here for you today, to get your eyes tested.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t shop,” Albus protested, making to go back into Parchment and Page. “I can come and find you here when I’m done.” 

Scorpius tugged him away. “Really, Albus, it’s fine. I want to come with you, I’m looking forward to it, honestly. I can always come back later.”

They arrived at the magical opticians just in time for Albus’ appointment. Scorpius waited patiently while Albus had his eyes tested, browsing the different frames available to buy. There were glasses with an inbuilt zoom charm, glasses charmed with water-resistant lenses, prescription potioneering goggles and even a pair with pink-tinted lenses which claimed to give the wearer a more positive outlook on life (not for everyday use).

Eventually, Albus emerged with a sulky expression on his face. He caught Scorpius’ eye and tried not to laugh. “I need glasses,” he said simply. 

Scorpius smiled kindly. “We’re going to have so much fun choosing!” 

“Pick from any of these frames and then I’ll be over at the desk to fit them for you,” the witch who worked there explained.

Albus nodded and took hold of Scorpius’ hand as the witch left. He had a grumpy expression on his face. “You were right. I’m going to look even more like my dad.”

“You’re going to look as lovely as you always do,” Scorpius insisted, kissing his cheek lightly. “Look, these ones will suit you!”

Albus laughed at how Scorpius had already been around and identified which styles of glasses he liked the best for Albus to try on. He was in his element, taking different frames on and off his boyfriend’s face and marvelling at how great he looked in every pair. Albus was self-conscious at first but he warmed up into it and seemed to be enjoying himself.

He was deciding between two frames: one thick and rectangular and the other squarer, when Scorpius presented him with a third option. 

“No way,” Albus laughed as Scorpius held out the perfectly round glasses. “Those are identical to Dad’s.”

“They’re very popular, those ones,” the witch interrupted. “We sell a lot in that style, can’t think why.” 

Albus frowned at her for a second, as if trying to work out if she was being sarcastic. The witch’s dry smile seemed to confirm that she was, because Albus laughed lightly. 

Scorpius entertained himself by slipping the round glasses onto his own nose and grinning at Albus.

“No, too weird, reminds me of fourth year too much, I’m getting flashbacks of that disgusting potion. Please take them off.” 

Scorpius obliged and removed the glasses, reaching forward and placing them onto Albus’ scowling face. He stood back to admire his boyfriend and marvel at how much he really  _ did  _ look like Harry. 

“I’ll get these if you grow a ponytail,” Albus said in a deadpan voice. 

“Absolutely not.” Scorpius took them off quickly and placed them back on the shelf where they magically hovered in place. 

“I’ll take these ones.” Albus handed one of the pairs to the witch.

“Great, come back in about an hour to pick them up.” She took the glasses away and Scorpius watched her consult a clipboard and start to perform a series of complicated looking charms on the glasses. 

“Which ones did you pick?” Scorpius asked in confusion. 

“You’ll see later,” Albus said mysteriously, taking Scorpius’ hand and stepping out onto the sunny street.

Scorpius grinned. “All these mysteries. Which glasses you got, what you’re brewing for your potions project, do I even know you anymore? This is why I had to turn to Hector.” He sighed dramatically, clutching at his heart. 

“I hope this doesn’t give you long term commitment issues,” Albus patted him on the shoulder. 

“Ask Hector.” 

“Nah, I’ll stick around to find out for myself.” Albus swung their hands, not taking his eyes off Scorpius, neither of them saying anything.

Albus had done that a few times, said casual things like that which implied he had thought about a future between the two of them. Scorpius would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about it too, but surely eighteen years old was too young to be thinking about things like that?

“I love you,” Scorpius said, because it was all he could think about in that moment. Albus was still looking at him very deliberately, until his gaze drifted over Scorpius’ shoulder and his expression changed to one of confusion, his brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed. 

Scorpius followed his gaze; Lily was coming towards them, her face a picture of panic as she stared at Albus in horror. Her body language made it clear she hadn’t wanted to bump into her brother in that moment. 

Lily wasn’t alone, but she wasn’t accompanied by Poppy Longbottom, her usual sidekick. Instead, she was hand in hand with a dark-haired, bespectacled boy who Scorpius vaguely recognised as being a member of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. She was quite clearly on a date and hadn’t wanted Albus to find out.

“I thought you… weren’t coming to Hogsmeade?” she asked nervously, looking unsure if she should drop the boy’s hand. 

Albus looked a little bit like he’d been slapped and he didn’t say anything, his hand still weakly in Scorpius’. Lily gave Scorpius a desperate look.

“Hello, Lily, lovely to see you!” he said, overly bright, then he stuck his hand out to Lily’s companion. “I’m Scorpius, nice to meet you.”

The boy grinned nervously and shook it. “I know, you’re Head Boy. I’m Finley, Finley Boot.” 

“Are you both having a nice day?” he continued in his bright tone. 

“Albus?” Lily said uncertainly, not responding to Scorpius. 

“Sorry, er, s’nice to meet you, Finley. I’m Al, Lily’s brother.” He sounded weak, as if his brain wasn’t working fast enough to form the words. “So, you two are… you’re…”

“The same age you were when you got together with Scorpius, yes,” Lily said pointedly. 

Albus nodded. “Yes, of course. And, er, James, does he-“

“No,” Lily said quickly. “And don’t you dare tell him, or Dad. I want to do it. Teddy said it’s my business and you all have to respect that I’m nearly an adult.” 

“Yep, nearly, okay,” Albus said weakly. 

There was an uncomfortable pause.

“Great save in the Ravenclaw-Slytherin match last week!” the boy, Finley, said desperately with the air of someone trying very, very hard. 

Albus stared at him for a second. “Er, thanks. You’re… on a team too, aren’t you?” 

“Yes!” Finley looked thrilled Albus had asked him. “I’m a Chaser on the Hufflepuff team.” 

“Great.”

There was another pause. Lily looked between her brother and her date and then back at the shop Albus and Scorpius had just walked out of; her expression changed. 

“Are you getting glasses?” Lily looked overjoyed when Albus nodded. “Oh let me see!”

“You can’t, they’re still in there.” Albus jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “I have to come back and pick them up.” 

“What are they like?” Lily had dropped Finley’s hand, much to his dismay, and was excitedly bouncing on the balls of her feet. 

Albus shrugged. “They’re sort of… square.” 

“Scorp, did you help him choose?” 

Scorpius smiled. “Yes, he looks lovely in them.”

“I bet they really suit you, Al.” Lily smiled kindly, staring at her brother as if mentally picturing him in square glasses. 

Albus looked like he was ready for the conversation to move on and Finley looked like he wasn’t sure if he should contribute anything, nervously fiddling with the frames of his own glasses. 

“Thanks,” Albus mumbled, picking up Scorpius’ hand as if to indicate they were going to leave now. 

“Well, I’ll let you two get on,” Lily said loudly, starting to drag Finley away. “Al,  _ don’t  _ tell James, promise?”

“Promise,” Albus laughed just a little bit as they parted ways. He was squeezing Scorpius’ hand rather harder than usual and walking at a brisk pace.

“My little sister’s got a boyfriend!” Albus exploded when they were out of earshot. “My little… my baby sister, my Lily… Lily. She can’t have a boyfriend, she’s not old enough!”

Scorpius held his hands and gently steered him towards a nearby bench to sit down. 

“As she said herself, she’s the same age you were when  _ you  _ got a boyfriend. Although I must say, Albus, I’m very proud of you for keeping this all inside until she was gone.”

Albus grimaced. “I know, I know she’d hate me saying this. It’s just, she’s  _ Lily,  _ you know? She’s always been a bit naive, she’s vulnerable.”

Scorpius snorted at the idea of Lily Potter being described as  _ vulnerable. _

Albus smiled. “I don’t mean like that, she’s got more balls than James and me put together. I just mean, Lily’s very trusting. She’s very open hearted, and she’s lovely for it, but I would hate for somebody to take advantage of that. What if she places her trust in somebody who doesn’t value her?” 

“Well, that’s why  _ you _ have to trust  _ her _ . Trust her judgement and that she can make those decisions for herself, however naive you think she is. Be there for her if she needs you to be, and support her and make it easy for her in the meantime. It clearly means a lot to her that you approve.” 

Albus nodded slowly, lost in thought. 

Scorpius looked back at their retreating figures and Finley Boot’s head. “He seems harmless enough.”

“No way of knowing.” Albus hesitated for a second. “I think what I’m trying to say is that Lily reminds me a bit of  _ you _ , Scor.” 

“Of me?”

“Yes. You… you give me everything, all of you, you trust me so implicitly.” He looked at his feet ominously, leaving a heavy silence. 

Scorpius’ heartbeat picked up, he felt his ears burn. Was Albus about to say something about Professor Jacobs? All rational thought left Scorpius’ mind as he pictured the absolute worst case scenario. 

He blinked at Albus and tried to keep the panicked tone out of his voice. “Of course I do, I trust you more than anyone. I love you. Albus, what are you trying to say?” 

“Nothing bad! I love you too, so so much. I’ll love you forever, you  _ can  _ trust me to do that.” Albus took Scorpius’ hand. “Is something wrong?” 

Scorpius swallowed and failed to meet Albus’ eye, instead inspecting the toe of his shoe, which he was scuffing lightly against the ground. 

“Scor?” Albus gently tilted his chin so they were facing each other. “What is it?” 

He could feel his heart beat in his temples, his throat was dry and it felt like a large walnut had lodged itself behind his adam’s apple. For one scary second, Scorpius felt like he was in the early stages of a panic attack for the first time in two years. 

“I…” Scorpius stuttered, not sure where to start and caught off guard at this sudden opportunity to voice his worries.

Albus sighed and looked straight into his eyes. “Be honest, are you still cross with me for getting back so late on Tuesday? Because it’s okay if you are! I’d just rather you told me.” 

“No!” Scorpius said honestly. “I was never cross with you, I get that your potioning just ran away with you. I don’t blame you at all.”

Albus frowned. “Please tell me what’s wrong then, Scor.” 

“I’m just… feeling a little bit insecure.” 

“Insecure about what? Our relationship?” Albus looked slightly panicked. “Have I done something to make you doubt us? Scorpius, I love you so much and-“

“Professor Jacobs!” Scorpius blurted out with no instruction from his brain to do so. 

Albus looked utterly perplexed, then realisation dawned across his face. He didn’t look hurt or offended, he didn’t look guilty, his expression was unreadable. Scorpius hastened to explain himself.

“I’m sorry, really I am. I’m not, you know,  _ jealous,  _ because that would imply that I don’t trust you and I  _ do  _ trust you, with everything I have. This is me being me, you know, my stupid anxieties, and you deserve to know how I’m feeling. Since Tuesday, I don’t know, I’ve been finding myself feeling the tiniest bit envious of how much time you’re spending with her.” 

“You’re feeling insecure because of… Professor Jacobs helping me with my potions project?” Albus looked like he was mulling this concept over, like it had never occurred to him before. 

“I know it’s stupid, I’m sorry.” Scorpius hung his head.

“Hey,” Albus squeezed his hand tight. “It’s not stupid, the way you feel is never stupid and neither is your anxiety. Look at me, Scor.”

Scorpius reluctantly raised his head and gazed at Albus forlornly. He hated that he needed to say this to Albus. “To clarify, I trust you completely. I don’t for a second think you’d ever be unfaithful to me, and I know she’s a teacher, and that you don’t even  _ like  _ girls. I know this is a silly worry.” 

There was a long pause, Albus still thinking deeply. 

”On the surface it might seem silly, but,” Albus leaned closer towards him, “is this, well, do you think this might be reminding you of… you know, Delphi? When her and I were… close.” 

Scorpius’ eyes widened. It had been a long time since either of them had mentioned that name, not since the nightmares had stopped. He hadn’t even considered that Albus being close with Professor Jacobs could be triggering memories of Delphi. 

“I hadn’t considered that,” Scorpius said quietly. “Is that possible?”

Albus shrugged, a bit more stiff than usual. “Possibly. There’s nothing between me and Jenna, and I  _ know  _ you know that.” He offered Scorpius a tiny smirk and he felt his whole mood lift; of course there had been nothing to worry about.

“You know me better than I know myself sometimes.” Scorpius chuckled faintly. 

“It’s the whole  _ best friends for seven years  _ thing,” Albus smiled and held his arms open wide. “Come here.”

Scorpius fell into them gratefully. “Sorry that I sort of just accused you of cheating.” 

Albus kissed his hair. “You didn’t, I don’t feel accused at all. Thank you for being honest with me about how you felt.” 

“I love you.” Scorpius suddenly felt the urge to cry and he screwed his face up against Albus’ chest. He was blessed to have Albus, truly blessed. 

Albus just held him and spoke without moving. “Are you crying?” 

Scorpius nodded against his chest and Albus simply tightened his arms. They stayed like that for a few minutes.

“You know I’m still going to need Professor Jacobs’ help with my project, don’t you? Is that okay?” Albus asked tentatively. 

“Of course,” Scorpius sniffed and pulled away. “It’s like you said, I know there’s nothing between you.” 

He wanted to ask Albus what his potion was, what he needed so much extra help with. Albus was the best in the class at Potions. But it seemed manipulative to ask right now, as if he were using the heightened emotions of the situation to guilt Albus into telling him. Albus would tell Scorpius when he was ready to like he’d promised. 

“Nothing!” Albus actually laughed at the idea. “Did you forget that I’m very gay, love?” He leaned forward and locked eyes with Scorpius, a wicked grin playing at his lips. “Do you need a reminder?” 

“You know how forgetful I can be,” Scorpius said in a jokey voice. “What a scatterbrain.” 

Albus smirked and closed the gap between them, kissing Scorpius in that sweet, familiar way of his. “Very gay and very in love with you,” he said quietly. “Want to get ice cream and go for a walk?”

Scorpius nodded enthusiastically, allowing Albus to pull him to his feet off the bench and lead them in the direction of Florean Fortescue’s. 

As they passed the apothecary, Scorpius spotted Thea and Rose emerging from the doorway, Thea clutching a small paper bag with what looked like some kind of root poking out of the top. Rose offered to put it in her bag and Thea shook her head, stuffing it inside her pocket instead where it didn’t really fit.

“Oh, hello,” Albus said cheerfully, looking up at the apothecary behind their friends while Scorpius smiled at them both. “What were you doing in there?”

“T’s brewing a potion,” Rose said and Thea glared at her. “What? You  _ are.” _ Rose sighed in annoyance. 

“With arrowroot.” Albus nodded at the paper bag half sticking out of Thea’s pocket. “Is it pain potion? You know you can just buy that ready-made.” 

The standard recipe for pain potion was quick and easy to follow, but Scorpius didn’t know of anyone who actually made it themselves. He was a NEWT potions student with dreams to be a Healer and he’d always bought it ready-made for the occasional headache.

Thea gave Albus an annoyed look. “Yeah I know, but I prefer to make it myself.” 

“Fair enough,” Albus smiled. 

Scorpius looked at Thea in concern; she was acting strangely. “Are you okay then? What’s in pain?” 

Thea waved her hand casually. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” 

“How much are you brewing? That’s enough arrowroot for  _ loads,”  _ Albus pressed curiously, sounding like he was just as worried about Thea as Scorpius was. 

“Are you making a whole cauldronful? That must be an  _ awful  _ headache, is it like a migraine? My mum used to get them really badly, they sound horrible. Go to Madam Abbott if you ever start feeling dizzy as a result,” Scorpius chattered. 

Thea stepped from one foot to the other as Rose narrowed her eyes at Scorpius. “She doesn’t have a headache and she doesn’t need to see Abbott.” 

“Alright, Rose, he was just suggesting it,” Albus said defensively. “It’s reasonable enough. We’re just making sure you’re okay, Thea.”

Scorpius expected Thea to instantly soften and reassure them she’d take care of herself and comment on how sweet it was of them to care. Instead, Thea gritted her teeth and suddenly looked annoyed. “I’m  _ fine _ , I just get really bad period pains,  _ okay?”  _

“Oh,” Scorpius responded lamely, feeling a bit silly. 

Albus’ eyes widened like she’d just announced she wanted him to take all his clothes off. He stuttered out an apology and Thea sighed. 

“Don’t be sorry, it doesn’t matter,” Thea said quickly, looking like she wanted this conversation to be over. “How’s your day in Hogsmeade going?” 

Rose quickly nodded. “We saw Lily on a date with a boy. Did you know she was dating, Al?” 

Albus blinked at her for a second, as if only just registering she was speaking to him, then jumped and quickly nodded. “Oh, yeah we bumped into her too. Some bloke from Hufflepuff.” 

“James is going to  _ freak out,”  _ Rose said gleefully.

Albus nodded and a grin spread across his face. “My dad is going to go  _ crazy.  _ He’s the least ready for Lily to start dating. I need to be there for that conversation, I just need to be.” 

While they mused over James and Harry’s’ reactions, Scorpius watched Thea stare blankly at the ground. She looked up and caught his eye, smiling hurriedly and flicking her ponytail over her shoulder. 

“Well, we don’t want to miss that thing,” Thea suddenly took Rose’s arm and cut off her conversation with Albus. “See you two at the pub later!”

“Okay, bye!” Albus called, a bit nonplussed. 

“Do we have time for an ice cream walk?” Scorpius worried as the girls left. 

“I think we should give it a miss, there’s a lot of sugar in ice cream,” Albus said in a serious voice. Scorpius stared at him incredulously for a second, until Albus burst out laughing. “Your face, Scor! I’ll order your usual, shall I?” 

With a double cone of his favourite flavour - butterscotch and walnut - handed lovingly to him by Albus, Scorpius led the way towards a quieter, more secluded pathway. 

It was idyllic, walking here with Albus in one hand and ice cream in the other. The sun was shining and two butterflies fluttered lazily across Scorpius’ vision; the whole moment felt like something from a poem. 

“Remember that time we snuck into Hogsmeade and ended up having to stay the night at Teddy’s?” Scorpius mused, catching a falling drip of his butterscotch ice cream.

“Yeah, and then he only gave us one bed to share and it was before we were properly together.” Albus rolled his eyes at the memory. 

“Didn’t stop us cuddling, did it?” Scorpius nudged into Albus’ side.

He laughed and almost dropped his mint ice cream. “Nothing stopped us cuddling back then.” 

Scorpius noticed the wistful expression on his face.

“What is it, Al?” 

“Nothing,” Albus hesitated. “Not nothing, it just felt like we had more time back then. Sometimes-“ he broke off and slowed their walking. “This sounds stupid, but sometimes I feel like I  _ miss  _ you, even though we’re at school together.”

“That’s just it though,” Scorpius nodded in relief, “we barely are ever together. That doesn’t sound stupid at all, I know exactly what you mean.” 

“It doesn’t matter or anything, does it?”

“Of course it doesn’t! Not unless we let it. I know we don’t get to spend time together all the time at the moment, but seventh year isn’t forever.”

“Just… thinking about what it’ll be like when we graduate. I, er, mentioned it to Mum and Dad, the idea we had.”

Scorpius lit up. “You did? What did they say? I haven’t said anything to Dad yet, but I will in my next letter.” 

“They’re very for it, said they’d help us with a deposit or whatever. But only if I get a sponsorship offer to study for my licence.”

“That’s the condition they set?”

“Well, no, they said it didn’t matter, but I thought it was a given. If I can’t study for my licence, I can’t become a potioneer, and I don’t want to do anything else. Professor Jacobs said she’d be getting the application forms in this week actually.” He swallowed at the prospect.

“Your application will be the best one,” Scorpius told him confidently, squeezing his hand. 

Albus sighed. “It’s another thing to find time for, though. I barely see you as it is and now I have to complete a licence application  _ and  _ make a potions portfolio to send to the big brewers in the hope one of them will sponsor my licence.”

“You’ll get a sponsorship,  _ that’s  _ a given.”

Albus ran his thumb over the back of Scorpius’ hand. “I love how much you believe in me.” 

“Of course I do! You’ll get your potioneer’s licence and be the best at whichever brewers is lucky enough to have you, and we’ll live together in a little house with flowers outside the door and one of those fancy spice racks in the kitchen.”

“And  _ you’ll  _ be top of every class at Smash, and graduate with every St Mungo’s department fighting over you,” Albus paused and smiled to himself, “and our kitchen can also have one of those coffee machines which makes lattes like Teddy has.” 

“And when we get back from our busy and exciting jobs every day, it’ll be to each other.”

“And I’ll cook your favourite dinners every night.”

“And if one of us is feeling stressed-“

“-we won’t have any roommates to ever disturb us.”

There was a moment of silence, Albus’ green eyes swimming in Scorpius’ vision as they shone with rapture. 

“Just have to get through this year,” Albus muttered, falling against Scorpius’ chest. 

He wrapped his arms around Albus’ frame and buried his face into his shoulder, breathing in the familiar scent of his boyfriend, echoing his words. “Just this year.”

“We can do it, can’t we?” 

There wasn’t really a question in Albus’ voice, more a doubtless statement that yes they could get there. 

“If anyone can do it, it’s us.” Scorpius pulled away just far enough to connect their lips.   
  


* * *

After picking up Albus’ glasses and meeting their friends at the Three Broomsticks, Scorpius and Albus decided to head back to school. Albus hadn’t wanted to show Scorpius his glasses yet, despite him asking several times, but now they were back in the empty dormitory, Scorpius’ persistence finally paid off.

“Can I see them now?” Scorpius excitedly clasped his hands together as he asked for the fiftieth time.

“Okay, but don’t make a big deal out of this. I feel self-conscious enough as it is.”

“I promise, I just want to see.” 

Albus reached into his pocket and withdrew the glasses, which he unfolded and placed on the bridge of his nose. They were thick frames, rectangular in shape and almost too big for his face, but they worked like that. Albus looked, if anything,  _ more  _ attractive than usual.

“Well? What do you think?” he asked nervously. “Do I look stupid?” He pushed the glasses up and rested them on top of his head, only a few locks of his hair escaping from underneath them. 

Scorpius’ heart rate increased and he felt a familiar swoop in his stomach. He didn’t have any words to describe just how good he thought Albus looked in that moment. Instead, he reached forward and pulled Albus towards him by the hips so he was almost sat on Scorpius’ lap, then he pressed his lips against Albus’ firmly, caressing his shoulders as he did. Albus’ noise of protest was drowned out and he responded with equal enthusiasm. 

“You like them then?” he asked when they came up for air. 

“Bloody love them,” Scorpius said back breathlessly and Albus smirked.

“Language, Malfoy,” he breathed somewhere near Scorpius’ neck. 

“One to talk, Potter,” Scorpius whispered back.

“I think I’ve been a fucking bad influence on you.” Albus nipped at his neck playfully. 

“You have.” Scorpius closed his eyes in contentment. “I said I’d do work when we got back.”

“This is more fun. Everyone’s still in Hogsmeade.” Somehow they were lying down now, Albus interspersing his words with kisses across his neck and jawline. 

“ _ Everyone  _ meaning our roommates?” Scorpius shifted to allow Albus to snuggle into his chest. 

“Yep,” Albus whispered into his ear, the feel of his warm breath tickling the sensitive skin of his jaw. 

There was a split second where neither of them moved, and then in a flash, Albus’ lips were on his, kissing him hungrily, hands cupping his face, tangling in his hair. Scorpius responded with equal enthusiasm, pressing his body up against Albus’ and revelling in the feeling of his lips. 

After some rather enjoyable snogging, they relaxed and curled up side by side, foreheads touching and Albus gently caressing Scorpius’ shoulder with a smirk on his face. It was so lovingly familiar, the feeling of Albus in his arms, after their day spent together. Scorpius felt as if he were breathing easily for the first time in days.

Everything would be okay, because he had Albus. 

Lovely Albus. 

“Oh wow. Did we…?”

“We fell asleep.” Scorpius smirked to himself and glanced down to confirm. “Yep, we both still have all our clothes on.”

“Rebellious teenager fail. Let’s neglect our schoolwork to take naps together!” Albus laughed, throwing his arm over Scorpius’ torso. “Sorry, love.”

“Don’t be. We both clearly needed to sleep.” 

Albus yawned and nodded. “This was the weirdest date ever. I took you to an opticians, convinced you to dye your hair pink, and then didn’t have sex with you. I promise I’ll do better next time.” 

Scorpius turned over so he was facing Albus. “Nonsense, this was perfect. Anyway, I thought I was taking you on a date today?” 

Albus smirked. “No, it was definitely me. It was my turn, wasn’t it?”

“I thought it was  _ my  _ turn.” They both laughed. “For our next date, I’ll take you to an empty classroom and read you my Smash presentation.” 

“You’re the best boyfriend ever,” Albus gushed in a false simpering tone. “Did you finish it then?”

“Almost. One more session and I think it will be ready. I’ve been finding this one particular case study really difficult to incorporate but I  _ really  _ want to include it because I think they’ll be impressed.”

Scorpius continued to explain to Albus where he was hoping to go with the presentation, stopping when he realised he’d been talking for a while.

“Sorry, I’m probably boring you with all this talk of Healing.”

Albus raised his eyebrows. “You’re not! I love hearing about what you love.” 

“Good. Because I can tell you more about the twelve types of blood malediction if you want.” 

“Wow, our pillow talk is on  _ fire.”  _ Albus chuckled and buried his face into Scorpius’ chest. 

* * *

 

_ Dear Dad, _

_ I’m sorry I haven’t written yet this week. I’m very nearly finished with my Smash presentation, I’ll send you a copy when it’s finished! Anyway, I hope you’ve had a good week. How did the conference in France go? Or is that next week?  _

_ School is as busy as ever, but I’m doing okay. I don’t get nearly enough sleep, and I have to go whole entire days without seeing Albus but it’s alright. He’s working just as hard too, going for his potioneering licence. I’m sure he already told you that over the summer. _

_ Speaking of Albus, we sort of had an idea together. I maybe should have told you sooner, I know Albus has already told his parents and I’m hoping you didn’t already hear this from them. Albus and I want to move in together next year, not far away or anything, just somewhere small we can make into a home. We both like the idea of being out in the world like that. What do you think, Dad?  _

_ Looking forward to seeing you on the day of my interview.  _

_ Love, Scorpius  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I want to hear any thoughts you have, especially about Albus’ suggestion as to why Scorpius was feeling so insecure.   
> Endless thanks to Marina for editing the original chapter, and then letting me babble on about it all week and editing it again when I changed everything! You the besttt❤️  
> You might have noticed I included a chapter summary here for the first time, please let me know if you like that!   
> I’m on tumblr @littlerose13writes (and I’m super close to a big milestone if you feel like following for tft updates!)   
> IMPORTANT NOTE: there will NOT be a chapter next Monday because it’s a Shipmas upload day, the next tft chapter will be in two weeks. (I will be posting some scorbus though as part of Shipmas so check back for that)


	5. Feelings and That

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpius’ weekend ends in a way which feels perfect. Jigsaw Night is anything but kinky.

Smiling widely to himself, Scorpius left the library without any books for once and only his completed presentation in one hand. He kept glancing proudly down at it, enjoying the way his neat handwriting filled the page. 

“You’re going to blind someone with that smile, dear.” A portrait on the wall of an elderly witch in a purple hat caught him by surprise. 

“Just having a great day!” he replied brightly. 

“Scorp!” He whipped around at the sound of his name and grinned at Thea and Rose coming towards him. 

“You look happy,” Rose commented. 

“So I’ve been told.” Scorpius glanced back at the portrait of the witch, who winked. “I finished my presentation!”

“That’s excellent!” Thea patted his shoulder kindly. “When do you want to read it to the prefects? Meeting this week?”

“It’ll bore them to tears, but yes. This week’s meeting sounds good.” Scorpius thought about it and, as that was four days away, he’d have plenty of time to read it to Albus and practise it alone before the meeting. 

“I think I’m going to be mysteriously ill for this week’s meeting,” Rose grinned teasingly. “Just kidding, I’m sure it’s great, Scorpius.” 

“Well I can’t wait to hear it.” Thea held out a small piece of parchment. “Your boyfriend asked me to give you this.”

“Albus?” Scorpius asked without thinking as he took the note. 

“Unless you have another boyfriend I don’t know about,” Thea laughed. “That had better not be some dirty message though, I love you both, but  _ no.” _

“Crossing a line,” Rose agreed. “If it is, he should have known I’d tell James, he’ll never live it down at Grandma Molly’s birthday.” 

Scorpius shook his head. “Albus wouldn’t do that.” They didn’t really ever send each other notes like this and Scorpius wondered what couldn’t wait until he got back to the common room. 

He unfolded the note and read its contents.

_ Scor _

_ Potioning. Come and find me when you’re out of the library, nobody else is here ;) _

_ I love you _

_ A xxxxxx _

Scorpius smiled to himself and tucked the note into his pocket with a little squirm in his heart. He knew Albus had been potioning, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit pleased that he’d invited Scorpius to join him there just the two of them instead of just meeting him after. Their Saturday spent together had been good for them both and Scorpius felt a million times lighter than he had all week. 

“It was some sappy, romantic,  _ Scorbus _ thing, wasn’t it?” Thea grinned and Rose laughed. 

“A  _ what _ thing?” Scorpius goggled at her incredulously. 

“Scorbus. Your names. Scorpius plus Albus makes Scorbus.” Thea shrugged like it was obvious. “Would you prefer  _ Albius _ ?” 

Scorpius laughed. “Does this mean I can call you  _ Throse?” _

“Not if you know what’s good for you.” Thea chuckled. “Go on, go and enjoy your romantic evening.” 

Grinning away to himself, Scorpius tread the familiar path to the dungeons and continued past Professor Jacobs’ classroom onto the smaller workshop the seventh years were using for their projects. In the doorway, he stopped and just watched Albus for a little bit. He was the only person in the small room and for a second, he took Scorpius’ breath away. 

He was sitting up on the countertop beside his cauldron, peering into it and looking back at a clipboard in his other hand, where he was scribbling something down. Every time he looked from the clipboard back to the potion, he would push his glasses up onto the top of his head and blink twice. It appeared he’d come to the end of whatever he was looking for, because he picked his legs up, crossed them beneath him and settled his glasses down onto the bridge of his nose to read over what he’d written. 

Scorpius cleared his throat as he walked further into the room and Albus looked up, blinked a bit and beamed, pushing his glasses up onto his head again and casting the clipboard to one side. 

“You finished! How late is it?” He hopped off the counter and crossed the small space between them, taking Scorpius into his arms as soon as he was close enough. 

“Nearly nine, you’ve been in here for hours.” Scorpius smiled down at him and brought their lips together. “Thanks for inviting me to join you. I liked the note.” 

“Missed you.” Albus smiled against Scorpius’ lips and kissed him again. “Thea was down here with Rose working on that pain potion she’s brewing, they said they were going back to the common room, I knew you’d be there. I wanted you here with me.”

Scorpius smiler. “They caught me on the way back from the library. How’s it all going in here?”

“Slow progress,” Albus sighed, letting go and putting his glasses back on. “Actually, do you mind if I just finish working this out?”

“Go ahead.” Scorpius smiled and wandered over to his own experiment, which didn’t look nearly as exciting as Albus’ and merely consisted of a magically locked flask of Felix Felicis he’d brewed himself and several vials of Deprehensia with slightly altered ingredients. 

He could hear the scratching of Albus’ quill and he padded up behind him, leaning over his shoulder and seeing nothing but a load of complicated looking arithmancy problems. Albus noticed him looking and stiffened, turning to Scorpius and flattening the clipboard to his chest. “Hello.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to pry. I didn’t see anything, it’s just your arithmancy.” 

Albus smiled and let the clipboard fall back into place. “Sorry, I don’t know why I did that. Of course you can look.” 

Scorpius didn’t feel like Albus really meant that, so he overlooked the clipboard and settled for kissing the top of Albus’ hair instead. He wriggled back slightly against Scorpius but didn’t stop writing. 

After a few minutes, Albus pushed his glasses up on top of his head again and set the clipboard aside, turning and beaming at Scorpius. “Done. How’s your presentation going?”

Scorpius smiled delightedly. “It’s finished! All written and referenced, now all I have to do is practise delivering it.”

“You’ll be fine with that, just use your Head Boy voice.”

“I have a  _ Head Boy voice? _ ” 

Albus hesitated. “Yeah, it’s sort of… more Malfoy-ish. You sound more like your dad when you’re in Head Boy Mode.” 

“Do I really?” Scorpius considered this information then shook his head to clear the thought. “Can I practise it on you, please? The presentation.”

“Of course! Do you want to do it right now?” 

Scorpius pulled a face. “No, another time, I’m exhausted and it looks like you are, too.” 

Albus relaxed against Scorpius’ chest. “I am.” 

Scorpius wrapped his arms around Albus’ shoulders and pressed their torsos together, breathing in the familiar scent that was Albus: woody, citrusy, and with a hint of coconut from his shampoo. 

“I’m proud of you,” Albus breathed against his neck. “You’re going to blow them away and I can’t wait to hear your presentation.”

“I’m sort of nervous about it,” Scorpius admitted. “I hope I’ve done it in the way they meant.”

“They’re going to love it,” Albus said with a note of finality. “Can we go and sleep now?”

“Absolutely.” Scorpius smiled and kept his arm slung around Albus’ shoulders, his eyelids feeling heavy. Thank goodness the dormitories weren’t far from the potions workshop. 

They moved as one, Albus’ clipboard tucked under his arm, but their path was unexpectedly blocked in the doorway.

“Oh! Sorry! Um, after you.” 

The speaker, who Scorpius now recognised as Finley Boot, stepped back to let them cross the doorway. He looked distinctly uncomfortable. 

“Er, hi, Albus, Scorpius.” Finley scratched the back of his neck. “I promise I’ll be gone before curfew.” He eyed Scorpius warily as if he were worried he was going to get a detention.

Albus hadn’t moved from blocking the doorway. “This is the seventh year potions projects, why do you need to be here?” 

His voice wasn’t exactly cold, but it lacked its usual cadence and instead came out flat and suspicious. Scorpius knew that Albus’ tone came from a place of protectiveness over his potion more than it did protectiveness over his sister, but Finley didn’t and he blanched. 

“Lily said… I thought it was in here, I must have got it wrong.” He was flustered, picking his feet up and down in agitation. 

“Lily sent you down here?” Albus narrowed his eyes suspiciously. 

“For her club! Her WAC club, I’m helping with… a thing.” Finley looked keen to leave. “Never mind, I’ll tell her-“

“Wait, it’s okay.” Albus’ expression softened slightly. “It’s probably in here.” He walked a few paces to the adjacent door and pushed it open, gesturing for Finley to follow him.

Scorpius followed too, leaning against the doorway and watching Albus.

“Yes, this is it.” Finley pointed to a cauldron and Albus leant over to inspect its contents. 

“Does this have lacewing flies in it?” 

Finley grinned. “No, but it looks like it, doesn’t it? It’s actually the leaves of a dirigible plum plant.” 

Albus stared at him for a second and then stuck his head back over the cauldron. “It’s never! How did she do that?” 

“Actually, this was me.” Finley turned pink. “It was Lily’s idea, but I made that, at our last meeting then she brought it down here.” 

Albus peered back into the cauldron again and raised his eyebrows at Finley. “How did you stop the leaves from disintegrating as they heated up?” 

Scorpius could see it in his eyes; Albus was going into Potions Mode again. 

Finley smiled and picked up a nearby ladle, twirling it between his fingers while he spoke. “It’s actually been quite straightforward! A sprinkling of powdered desert rose keeps their integrity.” 

“Do you mind if I…?” Albus gestured to the ladle in Finley’s hand and he happily handed it over. Albus gently stirred the contents of the cauldron, scooping up a spoonful and watching it fall back in with the rest. “This is so clever.” 

“Thank you,” Finley mumbled.

There was a moment of quiet and Scorpius awkwardly cleared his throat to remind Albus he was supposed to have stopped potioning so they could go to bed. 

“Right.” Albus replaced the ladle and smiled at Finley. “I have to go, but I’d love to hear more about this some time. Are you working on anything else?” 

“Loads!” Finley shared happily. “You should come to Lily’s club, this is what we do.” He suddenly clapped his hand over his mouth looking worried. “Oh no! I hope she isn’t cross with me for showing you, you’re not a member, you see,” he added in explanation when Albus looked slightly offended.

“I’m her brother!” he said, somewhat indignantly and Finley’s eyes widened; Scorpius could almost see him wishing he hadn’t said that. Albus grinned. “It’s okay, I know Lil. I won’t tell her you told me, don’t want to get you in trouble.” 

Finley blushed at Albus’ smirk and muttered what sounded like a thanks.

“Well, good luck with it all,” Albus said, crossing back over to Scorpius and taking his hand. “Goodnight.”

“Night,” Finley replied and then he looked at Scorpius. “I promise I won’t stay later than curfew.” 

“It’s really okay,” Scorpius said, trying to sound nonchalant. “Goodnight.”

Albus had a small smile on his face and said nothing as they left the potions corridor. “What?” he asked when he noticed Scorpius watching him shrewdly.

“You like him. Lily’s boyfriend, you approve.” 

Albus frowned. “For the record, I still don’t approve of him being Lily’s boyfriend. But you’re right, I do like him. She could do a lot worse.” 

“He seems very nice,” Scorpius agreed, nodding. 

“James will still hate him on principle,” Albus mused, leaning his head on Scorpius’ shoulder as they walked, their arms around each other. “I’m definitely the cooler brother.”

Scorpius laughed while Albus yawned into his hand. 

“You worked hard today. Was that for your potion licence portfolio?” Scorpius asked him, half hoping Albus might tell him a bit about his potion. 

“No, haven’t started my portfolio yet. It was just my NEWT project.” Albus smiled up at him. “Anyway, I didn’t work as hard as you did, finishing your presentation. I can’t wait to hear it.” 

For the briefest of seconds, Scorpius imagined not letting Albus hear the presentation until he was sure it was successful, just like Albus was doing with his potion project. It just didn’t feel at all  _ right  _ to keep it from him like that though. 

“I can’t wait for you to hear it either,” Scorpius replied, clearly after having left too long of a pause if Albus’ look of confusion was anything to go by. “I hope you’ll like it.”

They reached the common room and unwrapped their arms from each other so they could fit through the doorway. 

“I’ll love it,” Albus assured him, pulling Scorpius into his side again and making a beeline for the dormitories, completely bypassing the common room.

“Night, lovebirds!” Cole called across the room and Ava rolled her eyes at him. 

Scorpius gave them both an extra glance then turned to Albus. “Have you ever wondered if there really is something going on between Cole and Ava?”

Albus shook his head. “Nah, that’s just what they’re like. Cole told me they snogged once and agreed it felt weird.” 

“They snogged? I didn’t know that!” Scorpius felt a tiny bit offended that Albus had withheld this piece of gossip.

With a bored shrug, Albus leaned into his side again. “Not a big deal. C’mon, I can’t wait to fall asleep with my favourite personal pillow.” Albus reached up and clumsily patted his cheek.

When Albus was as clingy as that, it was a certainty that he was excessively tired. 

“Imagine if I’d said  _ us  _ snogging wasn’t a big deal,” Scorpius muttered under his breath as they walked.

“Was though, wasn’t it? Feelings and that,” Albus mumbled sleepily. 

“Feelings,” Scorpius murmured in response as they reached the seventh year boys’ dorm and clattered through the door. 

Albus threw himself down on Scorpius’ bed and pulled Scorpius with him. “There, done, I’m not moving now. Goodnight.” 

“You’re still in your clothes,” Scorpius commented.

“S’comfy enough,” Albus muttered, his eyelids falling closed. 

“You haven’t brushed your teeth,” Scorpius grinned.

“I’ll do it extra well in the morning.” 

“You don’t have Gryffindor the dragon,” Scorpius laughed, referring to Albus’ childhood toy which was currently under Albus’ pillow. 

Albus sighed and reached a hand up to Scorpius’ hair where he started to run his fingers through the strands. “Got you instead.” 

Scorpius smirked to himself, even though Albus was being ridiculous. 

“Y’really should make this pink,” Albus mumbled, his hand still sifting through Scorpius’ hair. “Would look cute on you.” 

For a second, Scorpius pictured Albus with pink hair instead of his raven locks and he smiled to himself. “ _ You  _ would look cute with pink hair.” 

Albus shook his head against Scorpius’ shoulder. “Wouldn’t work on my hair, s’too dark. Yours is perfect. Please?”

“After my Smash interview,” Scorpius compromised. 

“Great. Can’t wait to see how the sweetpea extract in this potion works. It’s new, Teddy said, needs some testing.” 

“Am I just a guinea pig so you can test this potion out?” Scorpius asked indignantly, pulling slightly away from Albus. 

“No,” Albus breathed against his neck. “Your hair is.” 

Scorpius reached up and held protectively onto a piece of his blonde hair. “My hair isn’t sure about this.”

“It’s completely legit. I’ll check the potion thoroughly before we use it.” Albus relaxed against him and sighed into his chest. “And if it goes wrong, I’ll pay for Teddy to fix it.” 

He was grinning as Scorpius shook his head and messed up Albus’ dark hair even further. “And then you’ll invent your own which works better, I’m sure.”

“Yep,” Albus mumbled, “and you’ll still be my guinea pig. You’re cute like a guinea pig…”

Scorpius smiled to himself and listened to Albus let out a sleepy sigh, then he kissed the top of his head and closed his eyes. 

* * *

The start of a new week meant another Monday morning kissing Albus goodbye until Wednesday. After their sweet weekend together, Scorpius found it harder than usual to leave Albus in his bed and go to his Head meeting. He kissed his cheek and murmured how much he loved him in his ear, causing Albus to squirm happily. 

When Albus came to bed late on Tuesday after Astronomy tutoring, he was breathing so heavily and strangely that he woke Scorpius up. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and eyed Albus in confusion, wondering why he wasn’t curling up beside Scorpius and instead lay flat on his back, staring at the ceiling.

“Al? What’s wrong?” 

Albus glanced over at Scorpius and grimaced. “I just accidentally walked in on Lily kissing that boyfriend of hers.”

“Oh, yes, that must have been an unpleasant surprise.”

Albus sighed. “Obviously I knew she was kissing him, but I didn’t want to have to  _ see,  _ you know? Poor boy, he looked terrified, like he thought I was going to hex him.” Albus waved an imaginary wand in a hexing formation with a little sound effect. 

“You wouldn’t do that,” Scorpius chuckled.

“Nah, but I sort of like that he thinks I could.” 

“How did Lily take it?” 

Albus looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “Remember that time my dad walked in on us snogging at James’ birthday party and you sort of leapt away from me like you’d been burnt?”

Scorpius blushed at the memory. “Vividly.”

“Lily basically did that,” Albus laughed, rolling over to face Scorpius and kissing him briefly. “I think I like him, though, her boyfriend.”

“That’s a good attitude to have,” Scorpius mumbled, stifling a huge yawn. 

“Goodnight, love.” Albus kissed him again and curled up to allow Scorpius to wrap his arms around him.

“Wednesday tomorrow,” Scorpius murmured into his ear.

“Kinky Jigsaw Night,” Albus muttered cheekily back. 

Scorpius groaned. “Goodnight, Albus. I love you.”

“Love you too.” 

On Wednesday, History of Magic club came to an abrupt end when Ruby had a stress induced nosebleed all over the books and Scorpius and Rose had sent everyone else away. She cast some clever  _ scourgify _ charms on the pages while he took Ruby to Madam Abbott.

“Extra hours, Scorpius?” The matron looked up in surprise as he entered. 

Scorpius led Ruby into the hospital wing and sat her down on a vacant bed. He had his wand pointing at her nose to stem the flow of blood, but he hadn’t done anything else, he didn’t feel confident enough yet. 

“Poor thing,” Abbott took one look at Ruby and tutted. “OWLs are a nasty business these days. Well, you know what to do.” She gestured at Scorpius and then Ruby’s nose.

“You want  _ me  _ to do it?” Scorpius asked incredulously. 

“Call it overtime. You can have Monday off,” she said sharply.

Scorpius was flustered. “Oh! No… I didn’t mean, because… I can’t do it, can I?” 

“Why not?” She handed him a tray of summoned equipment with a rare smile. “You’ve seen me do it countless times.” 

“Okay.” Scorpius smiled proudly and accepted the tray. “Alright, Ruby. When I move my wand, it’s going to start bleeding again, so can you hold this in place for me?” He handed her a magically absorbent tissue and guided it to her nose. Ruby looked at him morosely over the tissue.

Scorpius let his wand drop and instantly watched scarlet blood bloom on the tissue. He tried not to watch, as he selected two items from the tray: a small capsule of powdered bicorn horn and elderflower extract. Mixing them together as quickly as he could with one hand, Scorpius held the other hand out to take the tissue from Ruby. 

It wasn’t a pretty sight, her nose a mess of crimson, but Scorpius wasn’t in the least bit squeamish about such things. He carefully spritzed the mixture he’d made onto her nose, immediately stopping the blood. He used  _ scourgify  _ to clean her face, then handed her a small vial of blood replenishing potion to drink. 

Ruby sipped it and swung her legs about. “Thanks, Scorpius.”

“Do you feel lightheaded at all?” 

“A bit,” she replied. “I’m okay, aren’t I? It was just a nosebleed.” 

“Ruby,” Scorpius started gently, “have you been getting enough sleep? It’s just, I couldn’t help but notice you seemed a bit… on edge, in the library. Are you worried about OWLs?”

Ruby looked at Scorpius like he was mad. “Of  _ course  _ I’m worried about OWLs! They’re only a week away now and I’m sure I haven’t revised anywhere near enough.” She glanced at her watch. “Oh no! I’m behind schedule, I’m supposed to be running through my Charms flashcards again in three minutes.”

“Ruby, they’re just exams. Nothing is more important than looking after yourself and your wellbeing. Please tell me you’re sleeping at night?”

Scorpius noticed Madam Abbott slowly slip away and realised she was leaving them to it. 

Ruby was silent, which answered Scorpius’ question.

“You can tell me, have you been taking Alert Elixir to stay awake and revise?”

Ruby nodded very slowly.

“That’s why you had a nosebleed. Ruby, you can’t do that to yourself.”

“It’s not just to revise,” Ruby said quietly. “I don’t like sleeping at the moment. I’m… having nightmares.”

Scorpius sighed and wrapped an arm around Ruby’s shoulders. “Nightmares are nothing to be ashamed of.” 

“I know, I know they aren’t real. But, once, a couple of weeks ago, I had this  _ horrible  _ one, and then the next day, in Transfiguration, I felt like I was going to  _ die _ . I know that sounds ever so dramatic, but my heart was beating so fast and my lungs wouldn’t work and it felt like I was back-“

“In your nightmare,” Scorpius finished for her in an echo.

“Yes!” 

“Ruby, you were having a panic attack. Did you stay in class?”

“It was horrible. I couldn’t concentrate on anything Professor Heinz was saying for the rest of the lesson, I felt like my brain was too heavy for my head.” 

“I used to have panic attacks a lot, in my fifth year. Not because of OWLs, but it was because of nightmares.”

“You did?” Ruby looked shocked. “I thought you were perfect!”

Scorpius sighed uncomfortably. “No, nobody’s perfect, and certainly not me. I had panic attacks consistently for over a year.”

“What did you do?” 

“I saw a therapist. Still do, occasionally, just to check in.”

Ruby blinked at him. “Do I need to see a therapist to make them go away?”

“I don’t know,” Scorpius shrugged. “Maybe not, it’s different for everybody. But the most important thing is that you let somebody help you. My boyfriend was amazing, he was the one who worked out what was happening and how to breathe with me. Have you told your friends?”

Ruby paused. “I haven’t… really  _ got  _ any friends,” she whispered. “The girls in my dorm are always nice to me, and I sit with them at dinner, and we talk about a few things. But nobody is my  _ friend _ exactly.” 

Scorpius stupidly felt his eyes well up with tears, and he blinked hard, because the last thing Ruby needed was for her Head Boy to start crying over her right now. 

“But you’re so lovely!” Scorpius was in disbelief. “Why doesn’t everyone want to be your friend? Ruby,  _ I’m  _ your friend!” 

“They think I’m a geek,” she chuckled softly. 

“I’m a massive geek,” Scorpius admitted. 

“But you have lots of friends.”

“I didn’t used to. I didn’t have any friends at all until I came to Hogwarts, and then I only had one friend until I was in fifth year.”

“Thea?”

Scorpius shook his head. “No, Albus.”

“He’s your boyfriend now.”

“For nearly five years we were just friends. He was a huge help to me, encouraged me to see a therapist, learnt the patronus charm for me.”

Ruby looked glum. “I wish I had someone like that.” 

“I know it’s not the same, but if you ever need to talk to someone, Ruby, I’m happy to be the one to listen. Can you tell someone at home? Your mum maybe?” 

Ruby sniffed and nodded. “I told my mum the first time it happened, she offered to take me to see a Healer. I said I didn’t want to. I haven’t told her about all the other times, I don’t want to worry her.”

Scorpius squeezed her shoulder. “I know that feeling. You should tell her, though.”

Ruby nodded and sighed. “I know, I will. Eventually.” 

“I’m serious, Ruby. Nothing will get better if you try and tackle this by yourself.”

They mused together in silence while Scorpius mulled over the situation. He wanted to  _ do  _ something to remedy Ruby’s situation; it wasn’t fair that she was suffering alone. Nobody should be without any friends, it just wasn’t fair. 

“Ruby, do you know Lily Potter?”

Ruby nodded. “I’m in her class for Arithmancy. Lily’s lovely, but she’s  _ so cool _ . She’d never be friends with someone like me.” 

“I bet she would. Did you know she runs her own club?”

Ruby nodded again. “I know,  _ Wizards Against Cruelty,  _ I saw her posters. I even thought about going, but I was too shy.”

“You should join! She would be thrilled to have you, trust me.”

“Can I join when I’m not a vegan?”

Scorpius nodded. “She’s been on at me to join and I’m not a vegan. It’s about potion ingredients, I think. Do you like Potions?”

“Yes, I do. Do you really think I should go?” Ruby looked uncertain.

“Tell you what, why don’t I come with you? I know Lily quite well, I can sort of introduce you to her.” 

“I’d like that,” Ruby whispered to her knees and then looked up. “Thank you, Scorpius.” 

“You’re very welcome.” Scorpius wrapped his arm around her shoulders again and gave her a squeeze. 

“How are you getting on?” Madam Abbott interrupted.

Scorpius smiled. “All sorted.” 

“Good work, Scorpius, you can leave her with me. Ruby, dear, stay here while I check you over.” 

“Bye, Ruby. I don’t know when Lily’s club meets, but I’ll find out and let you know and we’ll go together, okay?” 

Ruby sniffed and nodded. “Okay. Thanks again, Scorpius.” 

It was with a heavy heart that Scorpius left the hospital wing. The time in his life where he’d suffered so grievously with panic attacks wasn’t often a source of positive feelings for him, and he felt a bit jittery when he thought about the way Ruby must be feeling. That horrible, sickening dread every time he felt his heartbeat increase and worrying that he was going to have an attack at any moment. He wouldn’t wish that on anyone and especially sweet Ruby.

Scorpius had never been gladder it was a Wednesday. He wanted nothing more than to curl up against Albus, maybe have a little cry, just take some comfort from one of the only people who would understand. He was walking at a slow pace, heading for the Entrance Hall and hoping Albus would be prompt at coming out of Quidditch training. It was still raining hard and Scorpius didn’t fancy standing outside for long.

A rain-soaked Cole greeted him, a grin on his face as he pushed his drenched hair from his eyes. “Alright, Blondie. You’re not going out, are you?”

Cole was already here, which meant training was finished and Albus shouldn’t be far behind. Although Scorpius noticed that he wasn’t in his Quidditch kit and he didn’t have his Beater’s bat with him like usual.

“Didn’t you have training?”

“Rained off. Even Thea’s not mad enough to make us train in this.” Cole laughed. “I’ve been at Professor Hagrid’s, working through some coursework stuff.” He shrugged and hurried off. 

“Oh. Where’s Albus then?” 

“No idea!” Cole called over his shoulder. 

Albus wasn’t in the dormitory or anywhere in the common room. Scorpius sank down onto the top of his bed and suddenly he felt even more like crying. 

It was Wednesday night, the most special night of the week, and it had already been emotionally exhausting and all he needed was to curl up with Albus and do their jigsaw and be together. He was feeling more anxious than he had in  _ months,  _ his heartbeat elevated and his hands unable to keep still.

Twisting his fingers round and around each other, Scorpius let his eyelids fall closed and he tried to focus in on his breathing. He let himself fall into a three part breath, feeling his chest expand and relax as he did so, but he wasn’t managing to reach that state of total relaxation he needed. 

He knew where Albus would be if Quidditch had been cancelled, he could go and find him in the Potions workshop if he wanted to. But something inside was stopping him from going. The frustrating feeling that Albus didn’t  _ want  _ him to know he was there, that he just wanted to be alone with his secret potioning project which Scorpius wasn’t allowed to know about. 

A single tear rolled down Scorpius’ cheek and he felt his face flame; was he really sat here crying because Albus had used a cancelled Quidditch practice to work on his potion? He’d thought he was feeling better about the whole thing after their talk on Saturday; he knew there was nothing to be jealous of. What did he expect, Albus was just going to sit around waiting for him all night when Quidditch had been cancelled? 

But it was past the time Quidditch usually ended, it was  _ their  _ time now, their special time every week which Scorpius valued over everything. It wasn’t the jigsaw that was important to him, it was sharing it with Albus and now he wasn’t even here for their usual, weekly plan. 

He glumly scanned his eyes over the pieces, looking for one which contained the right shade of pink for the gap they’d left last week. But not one single spare piece seemed to fit. Scorpius sighed morosely, reluctantly picking up puzzle pieces and staring blankly into space, feeling Albus’ absence like a heavy weight on his heart. Any other night he would have understood - he  _ had  _ understood - but it was Wednesday night and it felt  _ wrong  _ for Albus to be missing. 

Over an hour later, Albus finally,  _ finally _ showed up, looking harassed and jittery and then, when he saw Scorpius’ face, exceptionally guilty. He’d tried to arrange his features into a neutral expression, but Albus’ face made him sure he wasn’t doing a very good job. 

“Sorry, Scor. I’m  _ so  _ late and I don’t even have a good excuse, Quidditch was cancelled so I was-”

“Potioning.” Scorpius tried to smile and pulled him in close. “Never mind, you’re here now.” 

“How’d you know I was potioning?” Albus spoke into his shoulder, their hug far stiffer than usual. 

“You get this look in your eye,” Scorpius released him. “Plus your hair gave you away.”

“My hair?” Albus played with a strand of his hair, crossing his eyes to look up at it. 

“Yeah, it gets all curly when you’ve been standing over your cauldron. It’s adorable.” Scorpius could hear the flat tone he was speaking in, but he couldn’t bring himself to do anything about it. 

Albus hesitated, looking unsure. “You, er, finished the woodpecker.” 

Scorpius smiled weakly. “I started without you. Sorry.” 

“No, Scorpius,  _ I’m  _ sorry. I feel like the worst boyfriend in the world. I missed Wednesday.” 

Focusing very hard on not crying again, Scorpius took a deep breath in before he spoke again without looking at Albus. “It’s only a jigsaw puzzle. I’m glad you got to work on your potion.” 

Albus gently tilted his chin upwards so they were looking into each others’ eyes. “It’s not only a jigsaw puzzle, that’s not the point and you know it. You’re upset, aren’t you? I can tell.” 

This was bad, dangerous territory Scorpius didn’t want to enter. Albus was at the start of a spiral of self-blame and he would never forgive himself if he knew how upset Scorpius really was. But open, honest communication was their  _ thing _ , the one promise they’d made and continued to make to each other. Scorpius was utterly torn, until his emotions took over and decided for him and before he knew it, he was sobbing into Albus’ shoulder.

Albus wrapped his arms around Scorpius and held him tightly, just letting him cry silently for a few minutes.

“Hey, what’s happened tonight?” Albus pulled away just slightly so he could make eye contact with Scorpius. His green eyes were filled with pain already. “You’re not this upset because of me, are you?” 

Scorpius shook his head. “Stressful evening, lots of little things. I-“ he hiccuped, “I  _ needed  _ you, Albus. And I know you didn’t have Quidditch so it would be silly not to potion instead, and you didn’t  _ know  _ I’d had a rubbish evening, and it’s only an hour late. Just ignore this all, please.” He gestured to his tears. 

“Fuck,” Albus whispered, running both hands over his face with a groan. 

“No, don’t do that, please don’t start doing that.” Scorpius reached out and pulled Albus’ hands towards him. “It’s okay, Albus. Really. You’re here now, I still need you now. Please?” 

Albus nodded. “Scorpius, I’m so,  _ so  _ sorry. I feel terrible.”

“Don’t feel terrible, feel jigsaw-y.” He grinned widely to try and make it clear to Albus he wasn’t angry with him, but it came across as feeling false instead. 

“Wednesdays are important and  _ you  _ are important and losing track of time shouldn’t even  _ happen  _ when the alternative is spending the night with you. My priorities are all wrong.” Albus looked away from him and started biting his thumb nail. 

Scorpius couldn’t disagree with that; it did hurt that Albus was continually prioritising his potion over Scorpius. He swallowed. “You’re working hard on something you really care about and I don’t want to ever be the reason you can’t do that. Did you have a breakthrough? You looked excited earlier.” 

Albus continued to chew his nail and shrugged. “I’m close to having one. A few more hours’ work and I’ll have one, I reckon.”

“You could have stayed, sent me another note,” Scorpius said after a pause. 

“Didn’t want to,” Albus said simply. “As soon as I realised what time it was I was out of there, promise. I’m really sorry, Scorpius.”

Albus looked so vulnerable in that moment that Scorpius could do nothing but open his arms up; Albus fell into them gratefully. 

“I love you so much,” he whispered against Scorpius’ chest. “I don’t deserve you.”

“You deserve the world,” Scorpius kissed his messy hair. “I love you.” 

“Do you want to talk about your evening?” Albus continued, still pressed up against Scorpius. 

“If you want to hear how Ruby Chambers single-handedly managed to bring History of Magic club to a halt  _ and  _ destroy half the books.” 

He told Albus everything, excitedly sharing how Madam Abbott had allowed him to stop Ruby’s nosebleed and the way talking to Ruby had made him so emotional and what she’d said about not having any friends. 

“We should introduce her to Lily,” Albus said confidently when he’d finished. “Everyone needs a friend, especially if she’s going through something like that, poor girl.”

Scorpius felt a rush of love for Albus and his quietly caring nature. “That’s what I thought, too! I’m going to take her to Lily’s next club meeting.”

Albus looked up at him silently, Scorpius still had his arms wrapped around his boyfriend and he felt Albus’ gaze on him. 

“What?”

“You’re lovely.” Albus stretched up and kissed him. “ _ So  _ lovely, and I almost can’t believe I’m lucky enough to call you mine. I really am sorry about tonight, I promise I’ll never be late for a Wednesday again.”

Scorpius smiled down at him, the whole situation seeming almost trivial now he’d talked his evening out. “It’s alright. It happens.”

Albus grimaced. “It’s not alright. Are you feeling any better now? Have I at least managed to help?”

Scorpius considered his question: he no longer felt anxious, his concerns for Ruby seemed much more manageable, and he was content and relaxed with Albus in his arms. “I feel much better.”

“Good,” Albus replied, his eyes drifting shut. “Love you lots.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! (And waiting the extra week!) hope it was worth the wait :) let me know what you thought!  
> Thanks to Marina and Beks for all the help❤️  
> Tumblr: littlerose13writes  
> Shiny new Twitter: @scrupiusmalfoy  
> It will be another two weeks until the next chapter (because next week is Christmas Eve!) so talk to you again on the 31st :)


	6. Project Fairy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpius has a revelation about how he’s really feeling. Thea has been keeping a secret and Albus and Lily both make new friends.

Scorpius left Albus sleeping the next morning and got ready to leave for the study group he had. He was midway through putting his socks on when he just stopped and watched Albus. He was curled up on his side, his eyelashes brushing against his lightly freckled cheekbone and his hair pushed away from his face. Scorpius’ heart felt heavy as he watched his boyfriend breathe evenly under the Slytherin green duvet.

Sometimes, he felt crushed under the weight of his love for Albus. It was all encompassing, Albus was everything to him, and the very rare times (like last night) when things were difficult between them, Scorpius was reminded of just how much he had to lose. Albus was his best friend, his first friend; he was more than just Scorpius’ boyfriend, he was the first person Scorpius had ever connected with outside of his family. He thought about Ruby, how she must feel so alone without an Albus of her own, and how alone Scorpius would be if he didn’t have Albus. The idea made him feel sick to the stomach.

He sighed and forced himself to look away and leave, knowing he wouldn’t see Albus for hours and even then it would likely be a fleeting few minutes between dinner and the Thursday prefect meeting.

The heavy heart stuck with Scorpius all day, through his study group and every class. He spent an hour setting up his Felix Felicis experiment ready to carry it out at the weekend and he didn’t even feel excited about it. Professor Heinz told him to _cheer up, chicken_ and Thea was definitely eyeing him suspiciously as they set up for the prefect meeting.

It was now only five days to go until Scorpius’ Smash interview. He’d practised his presentation countless times by himself, once on Monday in front of Thea (who proclaimed it _wonderfully informative_ and _fascinating_ which made Scorpius beam proudly) and tonight was the prefect meeting where he was going to read it to an audience.

The trouble was, Albus still hadn’t heard it.

He’d hoped they’d have some time, it wasn’t a long presentation, but so far any opportunity he’d had since finishing it hadn’t coincided with any free time Albus had. They’d only really seen each other last thing at night and first thing in the morning, and it just wasn’t long enough. Albus had suggested he miss Alchemy to hear it, but Scorpius refused to let him do that.

“I’ll hear it tonight, maybe? Before we go to sleep,” Albus had promised, kissing him on the cheek and wishing him luck before he left for the prefect meeting.

But Scorpius knew this was unlikely. He and Thea had prefect evaluations to fill out after the meeting and if Albus was going to potion after his run, which of course he was, he doubted either of them would have the energy.

Pushing this thought to the back of his mind, Scorpius tried to concentrate on the task at hand as he uncertainty stood up to address the prefects.

“Hi everyone. So, yes, as Thea already explained, I’m delivering a presentation to you tonight about blood curses and maledictions. I’ll be honest and say this is more for my benefit than it is for yours, but hopefully you’ll learn something new. Please feel free to switch off and gaze out of the window.”

“Although if anyone does do that, you’ll find yourselves mysteriously scheduled to patrol the corridors after the next Quidditch match, no common room parties for you,” Thea interjected with a serious expression. “Scorpius has worked hard on this and it’s very interesting.”

“Er, thanks.” Scorpius straightened his notes and took in all the eyes on him. “ _Since the 1910 invention of the hereditary full body scan charm, the existence of ancestral blood curses has been widely researched…”_

As his short presentation came to an end, there was a pause followed by a light smattering of polite applause. A few of the prefects were exchanging looks of interest and most were smiling encouragingly at Scorpius.

“I bet you get into Smash!” said a Hufflepuff fifth year enthusiastically. “That was really good.”

“I never knew there were twelve types of malediction, I thought it was just one,” said a Gryffindor sixth year.

“Wow, did you really like it?” Scorpius asked in amazement as he took in the excited chatter around the room.

“Of course they did,” Thea said quietly. “Well done, Scorp.”

“Thanks, everyone!” He gave a nervous sort of wave and turned back to the agenda for the meeting, feeling proud and pleased as he started to discuss a new trend among the second years to try and break into each other’s common rooms.

The proud feeling didn’t leave Scorpius’ heart as the meeting came to an end. As the last prefects left the room, Thea turned to Scorpius with shining eyes and pulled him into a hug. “That was amazing! I didn’t want to embarrass you and go on and on in front of everyone, but really, Scorp, you’re going to just wow them at your interview!”

Scorpius smiled shyly and jumped up onto a table top. “Thanks, Thea. I really do hope they like it.”

“They’ll love it,” she assured him and summoned a stack of parchment. “Now, shall we get this over with?”

The task ahead was long and tedious. Filling in prefect evaluations for each of the twenty two prefects fell under the Head Boy and Girl’s responsibilities, and they’d been warned by the previous year’s Heads that it was an onerous task.

Scorpius leant back on his elbows and sighed. “Who’s first?”

“Lucas Finnigan-Thomas, Gryffindor,” Thea said in a bored voice, picking up the first piece of parchment.

They ended up sat cross legged on top of the table with the prefect evaluations in between them. It took longer than expected, and after half an hour they’d only finished Lucas and Kelly Gates, Ravenclaw. Scorpius checked his watch and sighed; it was looking like another night where he wouldn’t get to see Albus.

Thea eyed him carefully then swiftly slid the parchment to one side, completely clearing the table top. “This is cancelled.”

“What?” Scorpius blinked in confusion.

“This. We can do it another time. You don’t need this.”

“I don’t mind,” Scorpius stifled a yawn.

“Something’s wrong,” she said shrewdly. “You’re not yourself. It’s not just stress, something’s wrong, isn’t it.”

Scorpius sighed. “How do you always manage to do that?”

“Do you want to talk?” she asked tentatively, even though Scorpius knew she probably wouldn’t let it drop until he’d at least told her something.

But Scorpius found that what he wanted more than anything was to talk, to really talk and tell someone exactly how he was feeling even though it was stupid. Thea would never judge him, she’d been there at some of his lowest points and she was one of his best friends.

“It’s Albus,” he said quietly.

Thea nodded and gently took his hand, squeezing it lightly with hers, silently telling him she was listening.

“This is going to sound ridiculous,” he started nervously, “because I know we’re _all_ working so hard this year, but he’s obsessed with his Potions project. We hardly have time together anyway and now I barely see him and he missed most of jigsaw night and I feel like the limited time we have together anyway doesn’t matter to him anymore now he’s doing this project.”

Scorpius said this all in a big rush. Thea nodded along to his words. “That’s a fair enough way to feel. It’s important to make time for each other.” She pulled a face. “I’m sorry I keep stealing him away for extra Quidditch practice. We’ve got a match on Saturday.”

“It’s not that! Don’t worry about Quidditch. It’s not even the not _having_ time, because I know how much his potions career means to him and I know once this project is done he’ll be more available again. But…”

Scorpius couldn’t finish his sentence because he felt like a spoilt brat admitting that he wanted Albus to _want_ more time with him.

Thea narrowed her eyes for a second and pulled out her wand. “Looks like the time has come.”

She cast a summoning charm and presented Scorpius with a bottle of Firewhiskey and two glasses.

“A gift from Freya,” she smiled, placing the Firewhiskey on the table. It had a label reading _from one Head Girl to another, to be opened when times get tough_.

Scorpius raised one eyebrow. “Is this legal?”

Thea nodded. “We’re both of age, aren’t we? Freya’ll find it hilarious that we opened this on the same night as we started evaluations.”

Scorpius watched as Thea poured them both a small measure of firewhiskey and placed one in Scorpius’ hand.

“To seventh year sucking,” she said, raising her glass. Scorpius clinked his against it gratefully and drained it in one, the unfamiliar burning sensation making him pull a face.

“To graduation,” Scorpius muttered.

Thea immediately refilled both of their glasses. “To never having any time.”

“ _Never,”_ Scorpius echoed.

A third glass. “To _never_ seeing our significant others anymore.”

“Yes!” Scorpius enthusiastically clinked his glass against Thea’s. He felt pleasantly warm inside. “I miss Albus.”

Thea sighed and leant her chin in her hand. “Know what? I miss Rose and I never thought I’d say that.”

“Why not? She’s been your girlfriend for long enough, or your friendgirl, whatever you two call each other.”

Thea snorted with laughter. “ _Friendgirl?_ I’ve never called her my _friendgirl!”_ Thea hesitated and looked down. “Scorpius, can I tell you something?”

“Always,” Scorpius replied enthusiastically.

“Sometimes, I wish Rose _did_ want us to be girlfriends, properly, you know? Like you and Albus.”

“Yeah, me and Albus are the best girlfriends.”

“Shut up.”

“Sorry. I thought you liked keeping things low-key?”

“I did, when it was just us here in school. But now we’re so close to graduating. I’m hoping to be in Holyhead, she’s planning to travel around the world, then what happens to us if we’re not even girlfriends? Do we break up? Is there even anything _to_ break up?”

“You should tell her you feel like that,” Scorpius advised and he continued talking, cutting Thea off when she opened her mouth. “I know you don’t want to, that you can’t imagine anything worse, but that’s what you _should_ do.”

Thea shook her head. “I’ll think about it. Listen to me, though, going on about my relationship problems when we summoned this for _you._ What’s up with Albus?”

Scorpius wondered where to start.

“You’re going to think I’m mad, crazy, insane, doolally,” he giggled at the word _doolally._

 _“_ I already think all those things about you and I still love you, Scorp.” She tucked her head into his neck.

“Okay, well, Albus, he’s working all the time on his secret Potions project. I said that already, didn’t I?”

“Go on,” Thea urged.

Scorpius nodded. “He does it every evening with Professor Jacobs and I’m not _jealous_ because I trust him and she’s a teacher and Albus doesn’t like girls anyway… but it is a difficult situation.”

Thea opened her mouth to protest but Scorpius kept talking. “I know what you’re going to say, and I did talk to him about it, I did the communication thing, we nailed it. I told him I was feeling a bit insecure and he understood completely and has made an effort since. We were the paragon of a healthy relationship.”

“But you still don’t feel better,” Thea offered. “Are you sure you aren’t jealous? It’s okay if you are, even if there’s nothing to be jealous of.”

Scorpius shook his head, both to answer Thea’s question and to shake his head of the toxic thought. He knew it was ridiculous; there was nothing to be jealous of and he was just associating it all with fourth year.

The thing was - and the firewhiskey was allowing Scorpius to dig deeper into his brain - he didn’t think he really felt that way. His worries about Albus’ secrecy around his project and his meetings with Professor Jacobs _weren’t_ because they triggered memories of Delphi. He was far more self aware now than he had been back then, in fourth year he’d struggled to identify why he’d been so jealous of Albus’ growing friendship with Delphi. Of course now he knew it had been his feelings for Albus.

But back then, he’d not had the security of knowing Albus was his boyfriend who loved him back. This had nothing to do with Professor Jacobs knowing about the potion and everything to do with Scorpius _not_ knowing.

Scorpius paused, wanting to tell Thea what was wrong but not really sure he even knew himself.

“I’m not jealous like that. He just,” he hesitated for a second, “keeps choosing his potion over me. It makes me feel like I’m not enough.”

“You are more than enough!” Thea insisted.

A horrible thought crossed Scorpius’ mind and the firewhiskey told him it was a great idea to voice it. “He won’t tell me what his potion is, the one he’s working on constantly. It’s taken over his life and he won’t even share it with me. He won’t trust me.”

The words had come from somewhere, and Scorpius instantly realised they were true. His feelings of insecurity weren’t anything to do with Professor Jacobs or Delphi or jealousy that Albus had feelings for somebody else. It was the sharp but very real hurt that Albus was keeping a secret from him, Scorpius, his boyfriend, when he would never even consider keeping something from Albus.

Thea looked at him very seriously. “He still hasn’t told you what the potion is? Even though he’s neglecting your time together to work on it?”

Hearing Thea say this made tears sparkle in Scorpius’ eyes and he was sobbing before he could help himself, all the pent up emotion of the past few weeks coming out thanks to the Firewhiskey.

Thea hurriedly put down her glass, pulled him into a hug and squeezed him hard. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t helpful.”

Scorpius sobbed into her shoulder. “What’s g-going to happen to us if he d-doesn’t even trust m-me?”

She pulled back and placed her hands atop his shoulders. “Listen to me, Albus _loves you_ , so much it actually sickens me at times. Even the concept of you two splitting up is insane.”

Scorpius gave a watery chuckle. “Of course we’re not going to split up.” Then he felt a fresh wave of sobs take over. “But what if we _split up?”_

Thea patted him on the shoulder. “That’s the firewhiskey talking. Do you want to break up with Albus?”

“No!” Scorpius looked at Thea like she was insane. “Of course I don’t, I l-love him.”

“And do you really think keeping his project secret means he wants to end things with you?”

“Probably not,” Scorpius said in a small voice, and he meant it.

“Well then.” Thea sat back and spread her hands out in demonstration.

“I know, I know. I just miss him.” Scorpius’ sobs were subsiding into little sniffles.

Thea tapped her chin in thought. “You know, for two people so suited to one another, you really did get unlucky with your schedules this year.”

Scorpius swirled his glass round and round, watching the golden liquid whirl in circles. “Is it just unlucky schedules though? This year’s been tough but through it all, I always thought Albus and I were strong. Now I’m not so sure.”

Thea grabbed him by the shoulders and stared at him. “Stop it. You’re being ridiculous and letting stress consume you, you _know_ you and Albus are fine.”

“Then why won’t he trust me to know about his Potions project?” Scorpius whispered the question to his shoes, dangling above the floor.

Thea sighed. “That, I can’t tell you. Honestly, I’m not sure why he isn’t sharing that with you, only Albus can tell you that.”

Scorpius sniffed and nodded. “I should tell him I’m feeling this way.”

“Might be a good idea,” Thea said gently. “Knowing Albus, he hasn’t even realised how upset you are.”

It rubbed him the wrong way, even though he knew Thea wasn’t trying to be hurtful. Albus wasn’t some oblivious, emotionally unaware joke, it wasn’t _like Albus_ to not realise when Scorpius was upset about something. He was one of the most caring people Scorpius knew, sensitive to the people he loved and often too aware (and too quick to blame himself) when one of them was hurt.

“I don’t think _I_ realised I was this upset until now,” he said defensively, fighting against a fresh wave of sobs. He picked up his empty glass. “This firewhiskey is proving more effective than a good meditation. Or maybe it’s just you, T. You’re good for me like that.” He leaned against her and she wrapped her arm around his shoulders comfortingly.

“You and Albus’ll work out.” She squeezed his shoulder. “You’re moving in together and the stress of school will seem like a distant dream when you both have your dream jobs, you’re cooking, keeping your home together, all that adult stuff.”

“That’s exactly it!” Scorpius cried tearfully. “If we can’t handle it now when it’s just school stuff, how are we _ever_ going to survive the real world?”

“Well you’ll work it out, because you’ll be doing it together.” She sounded wistful and Scorpius immediately felt bad.

“I’m sorry about Rose,” he whispered. “I really do think you should talk to her, though.”

Thea shook her head. “It’s not just that.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know what to do,” Thea chewed her lip. “I haven’t heard anything about Harpies tryouts, last year they’d sent scouts to games by this point in the season. It makes me worried they _have_ been and weren’t impressed with me.”

“Don’t be silly, of _course_ you’d be offered a tryout. Maybe they’re coming to the game this weekend? But you’ll definitely be offered one.”

“Not if I’m not playing my best.”

There was a pause.

“Thea, you’re _brilliant_ at Quidditch! In every game you blow me away.”

“No, Scorpius, I’ve been off for a while now. Something… something’s wrong.”

“Wrong?”

“With me. Something’s wrong with me. I think I have Chaser’s Shoulder.”

Scorpius froze and stared at her. “But… you _can’t_ , you wouldn’t still be able to play, Madam Abbott wouldn’t let you because of the-“

He stopped speaking, looking at Thea’s expression and realising the truth in a heartbeat.

“You haven’t been to see Madam Abbott because she won’t let you finish the season if she knows.”

Thea nodded glumly. “Treatment takes a whole month to be successful. I can’t be out for that long or miss the final, I’ll never be scouted for a tryout then.”

“How have you been playing all this time?”

“Obscenely strong pain potion. I’ve been making it myself with three times the arrowroot, I don’t recommend it,” she winced. “I only need to last until the final, then I can get proper treatment. But I _can’t_ miss the chance to be a Harpy next year.”

“You’re going to end up giving yourself a permanent injury, Thea. You can’t just power through with pain potions, it’s dangerous. If anyone knew, you wouldn’t be allowed to play!”

“Exactly!” Thea looked close to tears. “Scorpius, you can’t tell anyone. _Please_. I have a plan and I know what I’m doing. You don’t have to agree with what I’m doing, but please don’t spoil this for me.”

He wanted to shout that of course he didn’t agree with what she was doing, that it was dangerous and stupid and she was going to get hurt. But it would fall on deaf ears; Thea was as stubborn as a hippogriff.

Apart from one exception. There was one person Thea might listen to.

“Does Rose know?”

Thea nodded silently. “We argued a lot when she realised I was serious about keeping it secret until the final. I mean, even for us we argued. We nearly broke up over it, I mean _properly_ broke up.”

Scorpius understood her meaning; although their relationship was unconventional and it sometimes didn’t seem like they were together, he knew Thea would be heartbroken if things between her and Rose actually ended for good.

He nudged her playfully on the shoulder, the firewhiskey meaning he communicated with far less tact than usual. “Tell Rose you want to be her girlfriend.”

Thea gave him a deadpan look. “It’s not that simple.”

Scorpius shrugged. “Yes it is. Say _hi Rose, want to be girlfriends?_ ” he spoke in a silly high pitched imitation of Thea’s voice which sounded nothing like her. “And then she’ll say _oh yes, T, I want nothing more than to be your girlfriend_ and then you’ll fly away into the sunset. This is all happening on brooms by the way, hence the flying.”

With narrowed eyes, Thea just stared at him for long enough that Scorpius started to feel uncomfortable.

He held his hands up in surrender. “This is _not_ my area of expertise. Albus became my boyfriend the same day we first kissed.” He lightly tapped his hands together to demonstrate him and Albus kissing. “See? Straightforward.”

Thea snorted with laughter. “Nothing about how you and Albus got together was _straightforward.”_

“That’s fair. But it _can_ be that easy, Thea. Just talk to Rose, tell her how you’re feeling. She cares about you a lot, that’s why you argued.”

“I know, I know you’re right.”

“For the record, _I_ don’t think you should be doing this either. Painkilling potions are only designed for short term use. You know they have side effects, don’t you?”

She waved her hand casually. “It’s fine, I don’t need to sleep after games.”

“Thea.”

“Scorpius,” she replied pointedly.

“I’m not going to tell you what to do, but please be careful with yourself.”

“ _Maybe_ I’ll talk to Rose, if she’ll listen, and _maybe_ I’ll tell her I want us to be girlfriends. But I’m not going to stop playing Quidditch until the final’s been and gone and I know I’ve done everything I can to get a tryout.”

Scorpius cocked his head to one side. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”

“I take that as a compliment.” Thea smiled and ran her finger around the edge of her glass. “You and Albus will be okay, you know. He’ll finish his project and before you know it, you’ll be revising for your last exam together cuddled up in some secret corner.”

Scorpius snorted as Thea laughed at her own words and kept going.

“We’ll all be like _hey, where did Albus and Scorpius go?_ and then it’ll slowly dawn on everybody that we haven’t seen you in hours and Cole will make some suggestive comment and Ava will remind him he’s only saying that because _he_ hasn’t had sex in months and then he’ll wiggle his eyebrows and ask if she’s offering to change that and nobody will know where to look. By which I mean, things will be back to normal.”

Scorpius smiled and nodded. “I hope you’re right.”

“I’m always right,” she said with a grin. “We should get to bed.”

Glancing at his watch, Scorpius noted that it was quite late now, but maybe he could still squeeze in reading Albus his presentation before they went to sleep. It likely wouldn’t be the best version - he felt a bit floaty from the firewhiskey - but he still wanted Albus to hear it.

“Thanks for being such a great friend, Scorpius,” Thea said sincerely as they left the room. “You’re a good listener, I needed this.”

Scorpius shrugged and looped his arm through hers as they walked. “Thank _you_ for listening to me.”

“You’re welcome.” Thea sighed. “Can’t wait to take some Felix Felicis for your project tomorrow, I can’t remember what being lucky feels like.”

“I hope it works,” Scorpius laughed to himself.

“Aren’t you tempted to try it yourself?”

Scorpius gave a scandalised gasp. “I only have permission to use it under controlled conditions for my project.” Then he grinned at Thea. “But of course I’m tempted. I won’t, though.”

They chatted and laughed together all the way back to the Slytherin common room which was fairly empty due to the lateness of the hour.

“Thanks again, Scorp,” Thea said, giving him a hug. “Don’t tell anyone okay? Not even Albus.”

Scorpius smiled. “Of course not, you can trust me. And thank _you,_ Thea.”

“Love you, goodnight,” she briefly ruffled his hair and left in the direction of the girls’ dorms.

“Love you too! Night!” he called after her.

Scorpius dragged his feet a bit as he walked to his dorm. The prospect of just cuddling up to sleep with Albus was far more appealing than reading his presentation again, but if Albus was awake then he’d do it, because who knew when else he’d get another chance?

The dormitory was dark and filled with the sounds of gentle snoring; from the looks of things, Scorpius was the only seventh year Slytherin boy not already in bed. Albus was fast asleep, curled up on one side and breathing softly. Scorpius smiled fondly at him, got ready for bed and joined his boyfriend. Albus was so soundly asleep that he barely stirred when Scorpius leant over, brushed his hair from his eyes and kissed him lightly on the forehead.

* * *

Friday passed in a blur; Scorpius didn’t even come close to telling Albus about the revelation he’d had with Thea. He’d hoped maybe he could drop it into conversation after double Potions but they ended up eating dinner then playing Exploding Snap with all their friends and a good time didn’t really come up.

Saturday was the Slytherin-Hufflepuff game so Albus was gone all morning warming up with the team. As he watched the game from the stands, Scorpius amused himself with imagined visions of yelling to Albus across the pitch his deepest most inner thoughts. It might be somewhat of a distraction to Albus’ Keeping if Scorpius decided to loudly confess he felt shut out by Albus’ secrecy, so instead he just watched Albus, marvelling as usual at how good he looked on his broom.

Slytherin won the match, then there was a party in the common room. Scorpius couldn’t help throwing worried glances at Thea, who was holding her arm stiffly and drinking something which looked suspiciously like pain potion mixed with alcohol. She noticed and told him to stop worrying, which was about as effective as his own suggestion that she shouldn’t be playing Quidditch at all. Scorpius debated telling Albus about Thea’s predicament, but he had enough things to tell Albus and anyway, he’d promised Thea he would keep it a secret.

That night, Scorpius really did try to talk to Albus about his project and how he was feeling mistrusted. He lost his nerve when Albus launched into a big apology about still not having heard Scorpius’ presentation. They made a plan for Scorpius to read it to Albus the following evening, which certainly made Scorpius feel a bit better, even if he still hadn’t told Albus what was on his mind.

On Sunday morning, Scorpius lounged beside a sleeping Albus and read his favourite chapter of _Magical Healing Through The Ages._ Each time he turned a page, he pictured himself at his interview on Tuesday, talking about whatever he’d just read. The images in his mind ranged from nerve-wracking to exciting; it was only two days away now.

But he was as prepared as he could be. His presentation was so well-rehearsed he knew some parts of it off by heart, and he was looking forward to sharing it with the interview panel.

Beside him, Albus murmured in his sleep and rolled onto his back, his eyelid twitching. He was impossible to wake up on a Sunday morning, in fact, Scorpius would probably have to wake him up in time to eat lunch. This afternoon was Lily’s next club meeting and Scorpius was attending with Ruby. When Albus had heard of this plan, he’d insisted on coming too, but Scorpius suspected he wanted to hear more about Finley Boot’s lacewing flies anyway.

“They spend most of their meetings talking about potion ingredients, it just makes sense for me to go,” he’d explained when Scorpius had expressed some surprise.

Lily was thrilled they were coming. She’d already started talking about membership numbers and name badges and all sorts of things. Scorpius just hoped it would go some way to helping Ruby.

Albus eventually woke up, and they spent a companionable twenty minutes reading together side by side in bed. Scorpius perused his textbook and Albus scanned a Martin Miggs comic, his glasses making him look extra cute doing so. Once they were both up, dressed and on the way to lunch, it wasn’t long until they were due to meet Ruby. At the Slytherin table, they found Ava bursting to share some exciting news.

“Guess what?” she exclaimed, the moment they sat down, her blue eyes shining.

“What?” Albus gave her a bemused look.

“I got into the Auror Academy!” She waved a piece of paper in Scorpius’ face so wildly that he didn’t have a chance to read what it was.

“That’s excellent, Ava, well done!” Scorpius smiled, picturing Ava as a ruthless Auror and thinking she’d be very good at it.

“Nice one,” Albus nodded. “You’ll make a great Auror.”

“Thanks, Al,” she grinned and played with the ends of her dark hair. “I have to go and tell Cole,” she added, spotting him arriving in the Great Hall and dashing over, waving her letter ahead of her.

Scorpius watched her stand expectantly while Cole read the letter, then he threw his arms around Ava in a hug so exuberant, he lifted her off her feet.

The sound of Albus clearing his throat caught Scorpius’ attention. “Er, I have something for you,” he said quietly.

“Something for me?”

“Yes. It’s sort of an apology gift, for being late on Wednesday. It just arrived. I wanted to-“

“Albus! You didn’t have to get me an apology gift,” Scorpius protested.

“Well I did, here.” He held out a small, wrapped parcel with an owl order stamp on one corner.

Scorpius turned it over to undo the paper and immediately saw the Parchment and a Page logo printed across the back. He grinned up at Albus. “My favourite.”

“Open it,” Albus urged.

Scorpius did, easing the paper back and revealing one of the beautiful notebooks he’d been admiring in the shop. It was rich, mahogany leather with an intricately crafted braided clasp and it was soft and supple beneath his fingertips. On the front, in gold letters, were his initials: SHM. The leather smelled divine, and Scorpius breathed it in happily.

“It’s beautiful. Thank you, Albus.”

“You’re welcome. Look on the back page.”

He turned it over and opened the back of the notebook. The page was blank, save for a tiny inked message at the very bottom.

_I love you, A x_

Albus grinned. “Soppy, I know. Don’t tell James. Or Cole.”

“Don’t tell James you love me?” Scorpius asked, hand over his heart in mock offence.

“You know what I mean,” Albus nudged him. “Can you pass the ketchup?”

While they ate lunch, Cole and Ava came wandering back over. Ava was still glowing with happiness over her acceptance letter.

“That training camp sounds intense,” Cole commented. “Can you handle it, Aves?”

She hit him over the head and his serious expression turned to a snigger.

“What are you planning to do next year, Cole?” Scorpius asked politely.

Cole shrugged and shoved a spoonful of pasta in his mouth. “Dunno, pro’ly co’ ki’” he said in a muffled voice.

“Those words were _probably coach kids,”_ Ava supplied with an eye roll.

Cole swallowed his mouthful of pasta and grinned. “Yeah. My dad’s starting up Quidditch lessons for kids, like before they start Hogwarts age. He did a summer camp, I helped out, it was a lot of fun. Kids are hilarious on little broomsticks.”

“Quidditch for kids,” Scorpius lit up, “ _Kidditch_.”

Albus groaned. “Don’t call it that, please don’t call it that. That sounds great though, Cole.”

“I’m pretty excited about it.” Cole took another huge mouthful of pasta and said something incomprehensible which seemed to be aimed at Scorpius.

Ava held her hands up in defeat. “Nope, you’ve lost us, Coley.”

Cole swallowed. “I said: are we still doing your potion thing tonight, Scorp?”

“What potion thing?” Ava looked curious.

“Just my final year project,” Scorpius explained. “Cole’s one of my test subjects.”

“I get to take Felix Felicis,” Cole said proudly, sounding like a small child explaining why they were allowed to stay up past their bedtime.

Ava gasped. “What? I want to do it! Scorpius, can I be a test subject too?”

Scorpius shook his head. “Sorry, I’ve already had to fill in about a million ethics forms to be allowed to do it in the first place with the four test subjects I’ve got.”

“Oh well, maybe next time,” Ava shrugged. “I’m going to find the girls and tell them my news.” She left with a wave of her letter.

“We should go too,” Albus said, picking Scorpius’ hand up and checking his watch for the time.

“Pasta for one, then,” Cole chuckled to himself, pouring more into his bowl and waving them off. “See you later.”

As they left the Great Hall, Albus reached out and laced their fingers together in a seemingly unconscious act. Scorpius sometimes thought his favourite thing about being in a relationship was the hand-holding, and he rubbed his thumb over the back of Albus’ hand as they walked.

Ruby was stood waiting for them in the Entrance Hall, her feet crossed over each other and her arms folded around a book. She was glancing up and down the corridor, looking slightly on edge, as if worried they weren’t going to turn up. Scorpius felt a rush of affection for her.

“Ruby!” he greeted happily, striding over to her with a big smile. “Do you know my boyfriend, Albus?”

Ruby nodded and smiled shyly at Albus. “Hi.”

Albus grinned. “Hope you don’t mind me tagging along, I think I should see what my sister’s up to.”

“That’s right, Lily is your sister! I’d forgotten,” Ruby blushed. “She’s so cool. You must be cool too.”

“Er,” Albus hesitated but Scorpius could see he was pleased, not by Ruby calling him cool. Albus always liked it when people didn’t instantly connect him with his family.

“I did some research, I didn’t want to be unprepared,” Ruby told Scorpius as they started walking towards the dungeons. “Did you know there are only three potions in the Hogwarts curriculum which don’t contain any animal products in their original recipes? It’s a bit mad when you think about it!”

“Lil’s gonna love you,” Albus muttered but Ruby didn’t hear him.

“I’ve always thought it’s so sad that unicorns have to be killed just to make calming draught. Surely there’s another way?” Ruby gushed as they walked. “Anyway, I’m really excited.”

“I’m so glad, Ruby,” Scorpius smiled genuinely at her. Albus caught his eye and grinned.

They made it to the potion classroom the meeting was taking place in; Lily had somehow got Professor Jacobs’ permission to hold it there now. Albus pushed open the door to the classroom and beckoned for Scorpius and Ruby to follow him inside. There were several people already there, some of them gathered around a cauldron, the rest chatting at a large table near the front of the room. He spotted the large group of boys Lily had initially described, including Finley and Lucas Finnigan-Thomas, a pair of sixth year girls he vaguely recognised and, to Scorpius’ surprise, Imogen. Lily’s recruiting was clearly going well.

Lily spotted them and immediately rushed over. “You really did come!” she said enthusiastically, flinging her arms around Scorpius. She pulled back and squeezed the tops of his shoulders before addressing Ruby. “Hi, Ruby! It’s lovely to see you, I’m so glad you decided to come.”

Ruby turned pink and mumbled, “thank you for letting me join.”

“Letting you? Thank _you_ for wanting to join! I know you’re wicked smart, we need girls like you.” Lily gushed. “I love your shoes by the way, so pretty.”

“Thanks! They were a birthday present, they’re from-“

“ _Mode Magique_ on Diagon Alley, right?” Lily filled in. “I saw them in the window, I came _this close_ to getting a pair.”

“They’re my favourite shoes.”

“I’m not surprised, they suit you so well!”

Albus cleared his throat pointedly and Lily glanced quickly over at him.

“Oh, hi, Al.” Lily giggled when Albus scowled. “Your shoes are very nice too. And I suppose I’m glad you came.”

He just rolled his eyes. “Can I go and look at that?” he said, pointing to the cauldron which Scorpius could now see contained Finley Boot’s pretend lacewing flies.

Lily followed his gaze and then narrowed her eyes. “Fin’s over there, you’re not going to be annoying, are you?”

“No!” Albus protested and held a hand over his heart. “I am your coolest brother.”

Lily scoffed as Albus left. “Do you have any brothers, Ruby?” She put an arm around her shoulders and started steering her away, beckoning for Scorpius to follow. “Here, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

“I just have one sister, older than me. She’s an apprentice at the magical menagerie,” Ruby explained while Scorpius watched fondly like a proud parent.

Lily’s eyes lit up at this news. “That’s such a cool job! Did you hear that, Scorp?”

Scorpius chuckled; Lily really was very endearing in her excitement for the smallest things in life.

“Okay, everyone,” Lily managed to get the attention of the whole room by raising her voice. “We have some new faces here tonight. This is Ruby Chambers and this is Scorpius Malfoy.” She pointed at each of them in turn. “And over there is my brother, Albus.”

Albus looked up and rolled his eyes at his sister, grinning a bit awkwardly as every head turned in his direction.

Gradually, everyone took a seat, so Scorpius did too, beside Ruby who was smiling excitedly, and Imogen who had come over to sit with him. She smiled and waved.

“Since when do you come to this?” Scorpius hissed.

“This is my second meeting, it’s so much fun!” she told him enthusiastically, offering no further explanation. Although when Scorpius thought about it, this was probably the least obscure organisation Imogen was a part of.

Everyone was looking at Lily, waiting for her to say something else. She was in her element, looking around the room with a fiery excitement in her eyes.

“I don’t want to make this too formal, but a few things have changed since last meeting and not all of you were here then, so humour me for a few minutes if you already know all of this. First, Fin’s going to give us an update on the Lacewing Plums.”

Finley cleared his throat and stood up. “Hi, all. So, it looks like the desert rose was the way to go and the leaves have stopped disintegrating when they get too hot. We’re still looking for a way to make them transparent for use in transfiguration potions, but I think we can all agree that’s progress.”

There was a polite smattering of applause and Scorpius looked over at Albus, who was watching Finley with great interest, as if he were itching to go and discuss this with him.

“Poppy, do you want to talk about Project Fairy?” Lily said when the applause had died down.

Poppy stood up and tossed her blonde hair back. “Project Fairy, as you all know, was put on the back burner while we worked on the lacewings, but now that’s going so well, I want to bring it up again. Fairies have the most brain capacity in relation to their size out of any magical creature, yet we continue to pluck their wings off and use them in potion making.”

There was a general noise of disagreement at this statement, with lots of shaking of heads and a few quiet _boo_ sounds. Ruby looked appalled; Albus wore an expression of skepticism which Lily had picked up on.

“I know what you’re thinking,” she said quickly, “that a fairy’s wings grow back when you pluck them, that they can spare them for potion making. But each time a fairy’s wings are removed, they grow back at less than a third of their original strength. In fact, most fairies can only donate their wings four times before they’re no longer magical enough to work. And what happens to those fairies whose wings are no longer useful to the apothecaries? Usually they’re fed to bowtruckles, even the ones which are released don’t have enough strength to survive long.”

Poppy interjected. “That’s not to _mention_ that they only want female fairy wings. When baby boy fairies are born in ingredient factories, they’re disposed of almost immediately. _Babies.”_

Scorpius stared at her in horror. “Is that really true?” he involuntarily squeaked.

Lily nodded gravely. “There are hundreds of magical plants with as much power as the wings of a fairy, we just have to find the right one.”

“So, the newest part of Project Fairy,” Poppy took over. “We want to get hold of some blossomberries.”

“What are blossomberries again?” Lucas Finnigan-Thomas questioned.

“The fruit of the Bala Blossom,” Lily told him. “It grows in the forest but there’s a problem.”

“Too deep in the forest?” someone suggested.

Lily shook her head. “Actually not that deep at all. But the plant looks almost identical to a common ivy, which is useless to us. It’s nearly impossible to find.”

Scorpius could vaguely remember learning about the Bala Blossom in his Herbology OWL class. Beside him, Ruby was bouncing in her seat.

“But the berries glow under a full moon,” she blurted out. “Some people think, anyway. It’s the only time they’re… easily distinguishable from ivy.” She blushed and tailed off when she realised everyone was looking at her in amazement.

“You read my mind!” Lily cried happily. “I want to go foraging at the next full moon for blossomberries.”

“Full moon?” Albus mouthed incredulously to Scorpius who shrugged.

“We can experiment with the blossomberries in different forms to see if we can harness their magic the same way we do with fairy wings,” Poppy finished to a stunned silence.

“And the next full moon is on Friday,” Lily added breathlessly. “So if a few of us can sneak out to the forest-“ she broke off and winced. “Shit, Scorpius, you’re here.”

Everyone suddenly turned to look at Scorpius and he tried to arrange his face into a neutral expression. “How about, I didn’t hear you say anything?”

Just one glance at Ruby’s enraptured expression was enough for Scorpius to realise that this was more important than upholding every school rule.

“It’ll only be on the very edge of the forest, and we’ll stick together, and we won’t be back late!” Lily said hurriedly, giving Scorpius a winning smile.

“I’m temporarily deaf, really.” He crossed his legs and pretended to look in the other direction.

“Right, er,” Lily paused and twirled her hair around her finger, “if you’re interested in foraging with us, come and speak to me about it.”

Her words seemed to mark some kind of call to action, and everyone started to break off into smaller groups. Lily caught Scorpius’ eye and muttered something to Poppy before coming over.

“So, now we split off into smaller project groups. I’m focusing on blossomberries with Poppy, Finley and that lot are working on the plums,” she pointed over to his cauldron, “and Lucas and Imogen are researching alternatives to dragon heartstring.” She indicated a stack of Herbology textbooks spread across a table. “That one’s a very new project. Feel free to join in with whoever you want.”

Ruby bit her lip; Scorpius could tell she wanted to go with Lily. Albus had already gone straight back over to Finley’s cauldron.

“This looks very interesting,” Scorpius said, pointing to the Herbology textbooks. “Ruby, why don’t you go with Lily?”

“Yes please!” Lily cried excitedly, taking Ruby’s hand and leading her away. “You knew about them glowing on full moon, _nobody_ knows that, we need you!”

“Welcome to the team, Scorp,” Imogen greeted as he joined her and Lucas.

“We only started this at the last meeting,” Lucas explained.

“My first meeting,” Imogen put in. “Basically, we’re looking for possible plants to experiment with that might be able to replicate some of the magical properties of dragon heartstring. Anything which seems like it might potentially work, we can look into further and start planning some tests.”

She produced a large sheet of parchment divided into two with _Dragon Heartstring Properties_ on one side and _Potential Alternatives_ on the other.

Scorpius ended up spending an enjoyable hour discovering more than he ever thought he’d need to know about the magical properties of cedar bark. The textbook he was using also had a fascinating chapter on mandrakes and their uses in modern magical Healing, which he became quite lost in. While reading, Scorpius found himself looking up every so often and fondly watching not only Ruby’s joy but also the interaction between Albus and Finley. They were stood side by side over the bubbling cauldron, talking quickly and Albus was undoubtedly in Potions Mode. The funny thing was, Finley seemed to have a Potions Mode too, and their expressions of interested concentration were almost identical. Albus had his glasses on and they were almost the same shape as Finley’s; they even pushed them up onto their heads at the same time.

When Lily called the meeting to an end, most people left straight away. Imogen hugged him goodbye and said something about having to get to the North Tower in time for _Tarot Reading and Discussion Group._ Lucas wandered over to Lily with all the notes they’d made and Ruby ended up chatting animatedly to them both as well as Poppy.

Albus was still stood over the cauldron with Finley, so Scorpius tidied the Herbology textbooks, straightening them unnecessarily. Lily came over to collect them up.

“Thanks for coming, Scorp.” She smiled. “And thank you for bringing Ruby, she’s really cool! How did that come about?”

“Ruby is in my History of Magic revision club,” Scorpius explained. “We were, er, talking about a few things and she was interested in coming to your club, but she was too shy to come by herself.

“I’m so glad you brought her! I’ve never really spoken to her that much before tonight, but she’s _so_ my sort of person! She’s already said she’ll be coming again.” Lily smiled genuinely. “Will you and Albus come again too? Or was this just a one off?”

Scorpius hesitated. “I can’t speak for Albus too, but I enjoyed myself.”

“I think Albus is enjoying himself too,” Lily snorted with laughter as she looked over at her brother. He enthusiastically high fived Finley over the cauldron. “I suppose we should go and save Albus, Finley will stay here all night if we let him.”

They were stood side by side and it was Scorpius’ turn to snort. “Save _Albus?_ He’d stay here all _week_ given the chance _._ See that slightly manic look in his eyes? He’s in what I call _Potions Mode_.”

“ _Potions Mode,_ I like that,” Lily chuckled. “It really is like another mode.”

Scorpius watched Albus and Finley working together, his attention focused almost entirely on his boyfriend. Albus’ hair was softly curling at the front where the steam from the cauldron had got to it, his green eyes were glinting and his muscular forearms stood out where he’d rolled his sleeves up. It was one of the most attractive ways Albus could look, in Scorpius’ opinion, and he wondered if Lily thought Finley looked just as good as he thought Albus did.

“They make a good team,” Scorpius commented and he felt Lily nod beside him. “Are things going well between you and Finley?”

“Uh-huh,” Lily said casually, not taking her eyes off her boyfriend. “He’s the sweetest. He made me a little unicorn statue the other day, sort of whittled it out of an interesting piece of tree bark we found while walking.”

“Well that’s adorable.” Scorpius folded his arms.

Lily mumbled something and rested her head on Scorpius’ shoulder. At that moment, Albus happened to look up and he caught Scorpius’ eye. His lips spread into a wide smile and he beckoned them over. Scorpius didn’t need telling twice.

“Enjoying the show?” Albus teased when they were closer and Scorpius chanced a quick wink. Albus grinned as Scorpius stood close to him.

“How’s it looking?” Lily peered into the cauldron and smiled at Finley.

“They’re looking clearer, we might have worked something out,” Finley said shyly, not taking his eyes off Lily. It was clear he was looking to impress her and that her opinion meant a lot to him.

“You’re amazing!” Lily moved a little bit closer to him. “Want to see our plans for Friday?”

Finley smiled and took Lily’s hand, allowing her to lead him away from the cauldron. “Thanks for your help, Albus,” he called politely over his shoulder.

“Yeah, no problem,” Albus nodded, not looking up from the potion. “Fascinating, completely and utterly fascinating.” Albus was muttering to himself and Scorpius could practically see the cogs in his brain ticking away. “I wonder if… no, would that work?”

“That got you thinking, then?” Scorpius interrupted and Albus looked up, grinning sheepishly.

“It’s just amazing. He’s only fifteen, and he’s already a better potioneer than me,” Albus sighed in what was probably supposed to be a lighthearted way.

“No comparing, you’re brilliant at Potions,” Scorpius touched his shoulder.

“It’s giving me ideas for my project, some new things I could try,” he said vaguely and Scorpius felt that familiar niggle at still not being allowed to know what the project was. He would say something tonight, after he carried out his experiment and they had all evening.

“Just how involved is this project?” he settled on instead. “The deadline is on Friday. I’m cutting it close only carrying out my experiment today if I want to write the results up in time.”

Albus waved a hand casually. “I’ve already done my project but I’m not finished experimenting. Now I think I want to look at… maybe that would work?” He was lost in thought again.

Scorpius felt a hurt expression cross his features which he didn’t try to hide. But Albus didn’t notice, already gazing longingly at the doorway of the seventh year potions workshop.

“What time are the others getting here for your experiment?”

Instantly, Scorpius abandoned the suggestion he’d been about to make that maybe Albus would like to hear his presentation now. “About an hour.”

Albus nodded and clicked his tongue. “Alright, I could set up another round in an hour.” He went back to stirring the potion. Scorpius gently took his hand away from the ladle and Albus looked up in confusion, smiling when Scorpius brought his hand to his lips, kissed it gently and then placed it over his furiously beating heart.

“This is what you do to me,” Scorpius whispered. “You and your Potions Mode.”

Albus grinned wickedly and used his other hand to push his hair back from his face. A stray lock escaped his fingertips and fell over his eye; Scorpius twirled it around his finger, tucking it behind Albus’ ear, even though Albus never wore his hair like that.

“I think we’re due an early night,” Albus said in a low voice. “How about, after your experiment is over, we spend the evening together? Just the two of us. I can hear your presentation, you can remind me how hot it is to watch you geek out.” He was whispering seductively by now.

“Only if I get to watch you geek out first,” Scorpius grinned and let Albus lead him away to the seventh year potions workshop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought about Thea’s secret! And Scorpius finally working out his feelings there too!  
> Tumblr: littlerose13writes  
> Twitter: @scrupiusmalfoy  
> As always, thanks to Marina and Beks for the support❤️  
> Thank you for continuing to be the best readers ever and happy new year to everyone! See you all next Monday for the first upload of 2019 :)


	7. An Hour Of Luck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpius’ own potion project gives him some results he hadn’t bargained for.

Scorpius ran his eyes over all of the potions equipment set up in front of him and then up to his four friends waiting patiently for him to give them something to do. Although  _ waiting patiently  _ was a stretch. Cole was attempting to balance his wand on his top lip, tipping his head back so he was facing the ceiling and propping it in place. Rose was absent-mindedly plaiting the bottom of Thea’s ponytail and Albus was hovering beside Scorpius, occasionally running his hand up his arm with a gentle, encouraging smile. 

He referred to the carefully constructed table he’d drawn out in the notebook Albus had given him that morning. It seemed like the perfect place to write his results. This was his Potions project and potions always made him think of Albus. When Albus noticed he was using it, he gave him a secretive little smile and squeezed his hand, leaning over to briefly kiss his cheek. 

Using his wand to cast a personal unlocking charm on the cauldron, Scorpius carefully measured out four small doses of Felix Felicis into separate vials, one for each of his subjects. He corked the vials and placed each one in front of four small racks of Deprehensia potion. He’d brewed five different versions of the potion, each with an altered amount of scurvy grass. 

The Deprehensia potion worked with a sample of the taker’s saliva, in which it could detect the presence of Felix Felicis. It crackled when a sample was added and turned from clear to gold when Felix was present, the brightness of the colour indicating how recently the potion was taken. Deprehensia was used to test professional Quidditch players before each game to prevent cheating. 

Scorpius’ theory was that, the lower the dose of Felix Felicis taken by the athlete, the more scurvy grass was required to pick it up. If his theory was substantiated in his experiment, it would suggest that cheaply made Deprehensia with lower levels of scurvy grass would be easier to fool. As Scorpius was only giving his friends such a small dose of Felix, there was a chance some of the versions of the potion wouldn’t pick it up. 

“So, first I’ll give you the Felix Felicis,” Scorpius explained, holding up one of the vials. “This is a tiny dose, only enough for about an hour’s luck, if that.”

There was an excited murmur around the room at the prospect of taking the lucky potion. 

He smiled and walked over to the racks of Deprehensia. “Then, once you’ve taken the Felix, you swipe a sampler across your tongue and stick it into each potion. They’re all slightly different so it should tell me something, I hope.” 

“Got it,” Cole nodded. “Take lucky potion, lick a stick, shove in potion, repeat times five.” 

“Er, yes.” Scorpius shuffled his feet while everyone laughed at Cole’s words; he was a bit nervous about this. “I want to do it one at a time so I don’t get anything wrong, but it shouldn’t take long, I know we’re all busy.”

Albus caught his eye and grinned. They were well aware of how busy they were, but their plans for after this would remedy that. 

“Albus should go first,” Rose put in. “I feel like he knows the most about this, then we can all copy.” 

“Alright,” Albus nodded, looking pleased by what Rose had said. “That okay with you, Scor?” 

“Of course!” Scorpius smiled at his boyfriend before jumping and remembering he needed to administer the potions and start the experiment. He uncorked the first vial of Felix and handed it reverently to Albus. “Here you go, just down it in one.”

Albus took the vial and looked between the glittering, golden potion and Scorpius’ encouraging smile. He swallowed it in one and there was a collective intake of breath. 

“How do you feel?” Thea asked.

“Wonderful! Very light.” Albus had returned to stroking Scorpius’ arm and he laced their fingers. 

Scorpius gave his hand a squeeze then let go so he could hand Albus a sample stick. When he presented it to Albus, he noticed Albus wasn’t paying attention and was instead looking past Scorpius to his own potions project set up in the corner.

“Hold on one sec, Scor. I just need to try something.” 

“Albus, wait, I need you to do this!” Scorpius desperately held up the sample stick but Albus looked like he hadn’t even heard him.

“These are all wrong,” he said confidently, picking crystal phials up at random and tossing them to one side. “I really feel like I should be trying a flowering plant, something which blooms in May.” 

Thea gave Scorpius a wary look. “Er, he shouldn’t be doing that. That’s his final project, and he’s under the influence. Isn’t that against the rules?” 

Scorpius wrung his hands in a panic. “I don’t think so! I hope not?! It’s not like this is an exam, so it’s fine, isn’t it?” He’d unintentionally started pacing back and forth. “He isn’t going to get a better mark this way. I’m sure it’s okay.” He twisted his fingers together. “Oh, I should have thought of this and chosen a different room.” 

“Relax, it’s not against the rules,” said Rose confidently. “It’s not a competition or sporting event, it’s not even an exam. Luck has nothing to do with your projects.” 

“I need to speak to Lily, I need to help with her club.” Albus began striding confidently to the door and Scorpius chased after him.

“Albus, wait! You need to give me a sample first. Remember, my project?” 

To his complete and utter surprise, Albus took him firmly by the face and kissed him right there in front of everyone. “Your project’s amazing, baby.” 

Despite Albus’ behaviour clearly being a result of the potion, Scorpius felt his heart leap a little bit. He strained himself to focus on the task at hand.

“Sample!” Scorpius held it up to his lips and forced him to swipe it across his tongue, which he did. 

“You  _ did  _ just give him a negligible amount, didn’t you?” Thea was eyeing Albus with concern. “He doesn’t seem like himself.” 

“Yes! Controlled conditions, it just affects everyone differently.” Scorpius wrung his hands in panic. “Albus? Are you okay?” 

“Never felt better,” Albus replied confidently, sitting back down, his eyes shining with what looked like excitement.

“Okay,” Scorpius said uncertainly, sticking Albus’ sample stick into each potion and giving them a quick stir. “Who wants to go next?”

“Can I go now?” Albus interrupted, standing back up and bouncing on the balls of his feet. 

Scorpius checked if the potions were crackling like they were supposed to before they changed colour; they seemed to be working. “Er, technically yes, but I’d rather you stayed. It won’t be long until I’m finished, then you can hear my presentation and we can spend time together like we planned.” 

“I have to go and help Lily. I’ll be back in time,” Albus promised, kissing him again and leaving.

“Albus, wait!” Scorpius didn’t want to let him go when he wasn’t acting like himself. 

“I’ll meet you in our dorm.” Albus called over his shoulder. 

There was a stunned silence.

“What was  _ that? _ ” Cole laughed, with an edge of hysteria to his voice; after all, he was about to take the same potion Albus had. 

“It’s one of the risks,” Scorpius explained. “Once the Felix is in your system, there’s no telling what someone will do. Obscene amounts of luck can do the strangest things.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Thea looked concerned. “Are we all going to end up like that?”

Scorpius bit his lip. “I don’t know, I hope not. This dose is only enough for about an hour of luck.”

“Right, well, let’s get this over with.” Rose stepped forward eagerly. 

“Me too!” Thea matched her enthusiasm.

“Alright,” Scorpius said with one last distracted look over his shoulder, refocusing on what he was doing and handing the girls each a tiny vial of the golden potion.

The two girls grinned at each other, clinked their vials together and drained them in one. 

A pensive expression took over Thea’s face almost immediately. “Can I borrow a quill?”

Scorpius eyed her warily. “Er, yes, just as soon as you’ve given me a sample.” He held the stick up invitingly. 

Thea shrugged and stuck it into her mouth. “Now can I?” 

Scorpius stirred each of Thea’s potions with her sample stick and checked for the crackling. When he heard it, he passed a quill over to Thea, wondering what the potion was telling her to do with it.

“What do you need a quill for?” Cole looked confused while Rose sucked on a sample stick too. 

“I need to write to my parents. I haven’t sent a letter home in a couple of weeks.” Thea started scratching away with the borrowed quill on the back of an old ingredients list somebody had left behind. 

“What the heck is in this potion?” Cole peered into his vial of Felix Felicis suspiciously. 

“It’s just standard Felix!” Scorpius protested, accepting Rose’s sample back from her. “Professor Jacobs checked it, there’s nothing dangerous about it!”

Thea continued to write her letter to her parents and Rose watched her fondly. “Let’s go for a walk after this, T,” she said softly. 

“Okay.” Thea looked up from her letter and smiled at Rose; Scorpius suddenly felt like he was intruding and busied himself with checking the results; Thea and Rose’s were both crackling and Albus’ had changed colour. He quickly filled in the results chart he’d made in advance, his brain itching to start analysing what he was writing down. 

“Can I take mine now?” Cole held his Felix up awkwardly. 

“Er, yes, go ahead.” Scorpius held his breath while Cole downed the potion, his expression staying relatively the same. Scorpius became aware of raised voices behind him.

“You’re right, I should go to Madam Abbott. I’ll go right now, as soon as I’ve sent this letter.”

“I’ll take you there,” Rose replied. “You know what she’s going to say, though.” 

“Hold on!” Scorpius rushed over in a panic. “Wait a second, Thea, you’re going to go to Abbott about your arm? What about the Harpies?”

“I don’t need the Harpies to see me play anymore this season,” she said confidently with a nonchalant shrug. 

“But it’s your dream! Yes, you do!” Scorpius just had to keep Thea there in the room until the potion wore off; he couldn’t let his Potions project ruin her plan to become a Harpy. 

“No, she doesn’t. They don’t need to see her in the final,” Rose said with an equally casual tone. “Let’s go.”

“No! You can’t!” Scorpius felt his blood beating in his ears. “Thea, you have to play in the final!”

“I think I should ask Polly Chapman out,” Cole suddenly announced loudly. 

“ _ What?”  _ Scorpius whipped round to stare at Cole, who had a faraway and dreamy look on his face. “Since when have you  _ ever  _ had a thing for Polly Chapman?” 

“Honestly, Scorpius, it’s a relief. Finally my arm will stop hurting.” Scorpius felt like he had whiplash as he turned back around to look back at Thea who was rubbing her shoulder as she stood up. 

“Let’s talk on the way,” Rose said pointedly, taking Thea’s hand and starting to lead her from the room. 

“Any idea where Polly hangs out on a Sunday night?” Cole called after Rose. 

“No, Cole, wait!” Scorpius yelped.

“Common room, password’s  _ kestrel _ ,” Rose replied nonchalantly over her shoulder. 

“Rose, no! Just think about it clearly, Thea!” Scorpius was stood in the doorway, torn between chasing after the girls and stopping Cole from leaving the workshop. 

“Excellent,” Cole went to leave and Scorpius desperately grabbed onto his elbow to stop him. 

“What is it, Blondie?” 

“At least give me a sample before you go,” Scorpius said desperately. 

Cole smiled. “Sure.” 

While Cole’s sample made contact with each version of the Deprehensia potion and they crackled away, Scorpius started hurriedly writing down the girls’ results, barely paying attention to them this time. If he could just get to Thea before she made it to the hospital wing, he might be able to stall her long enough for the potion to wear off. And maybe he could convince Cole to come with him just to keep him as far away from Polly as possible. 

“Can’t wait to ask Polly out, she’s so perfect, isn’t she?”

He was of the opinion that Polly Chapman was far from perfect but, as Cole’s current state was his fault, he didn’t feel he could say so. Scorpius made a non-committal sound as he stared at Cole’s potions, willing the process to speed up; he couldn’t leave and miss them changing colour. 

“Such a sweet, kind girl. And of course she’ll say yes, thanks to you.” Cole nudged Scorpius in the shoulder. 

He cleared his throat. “I, er, didn’t realise you liked Polly. Are you sure this isn’t the potion talking?” he asked distractedly, waiting impatiently for Cole’s potion to change so he could leave and follow Thea. 

Cole considered his words, cocking his head to one side. “Don’t really feel too different if I’m honest, you ever taken this stuff? What’s it meant to feel like?” 

Scorpius checked Cole’s potion agitatedly even though he knew it wouldn’t have changed yet. “Never taken it, but I know that a dose like this is meant to make you feel confident in your decisions.” He started stacking the empty Felix vials and carrying them over to the sink just for something to do; Cole’s potions still hadn’t changed colour and Thea could be halfway to the hospital wing by now. 

Cole looked to the door where their friends had left in various states of oddness. “They were certainly confident.”

“Thea’s going to do something really stupid!” Scorpius cried, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the colour change. “She could ruin her career and it will be all my fault, I have to stop her!” 

Cole gestured to the potions Scorpius was still waiting on. “I’ll go if you want, I’m excellent at stalling people. I could ask her for advice on how to ask Polly out.”

Scorpius knew he couldn’t let Cole out of his sight in the state he was in. “We can go together.”

Cole screwed up his face in thought for a second. “I just feel like I should stay and help you clean up. We haven’t hung out in too long.” 

“No that’s okay!” Scorpius said quickly, watching the warning sparks over Cole’s potion come to life. He had his quill poised, ready to write down the results and get out of there as quickly as possible. Maybe he could get to Thea in time still! “I’ll come back and clean up after I’ve seen Thea, she could be nearly there by now.” 

“I insist!” Cole said kindly but firmly, starting to gather up used vials. “You can’t leave it like this.”

For someone who often left his old socks all over the dormitory floor, Scorpius thought it rather odd Cole was suddenly so worried about the cleanliness of the potions workshop. 

“Nobody else will need to use it tonight, I just have to stall Thea long enough for her Felix to wear off. And, er, you have to come with me!” 

“No, I’m going straight to find Polly when I’ve finished helping you,” Cole muttered like it was obvious. 

Scorpius was left with two options: find Thea in time to stop her but let Cole leave and ask Polly out, or drag out cleaning up the workshop until Cole’s own potion wore off and miss stopping Thea. The repercussions of Thea’s decision seemed somehow worse, but Scorpius felt like he was responsible for stopping them both. 

“Or you could, um, buy her some flowers!” Scorpius suggested in a last desperate attempt. “On the next Hogsmeade weekend, from that fancy florist.  _ Then  _ ask her out, with the flowers. Girls love flowers, don’t they? My mum loved flowers.” 

Nobody could ever say he hadn’t  _ tried  _ to stop Cole. 

“I’ll conjure some!” Cole said happily from where he was rinsing out a cauldron but suddenly his determined expression dropped, like he’d been given an instruction to stop what he was doing. 

“What? What’s wrong?” Scorpius’ mind quickly presented him with an image of Cole collapsing in pain because of his incorrectly brewed potion. 

Cole stared at him for a second and then he broke into peals of laughter, his usual wide grin taking over his face. “Scorpius, I’m joking! Your face, that was priceless!” 

“What?” Scorpius stuttered weakly as Cole continued to roar with laughter.

“I’m not asking Polly Chapman out at all, she’s dating Yann Fredericks anyway. I’m just messing with you. I thought  _ what would stress him out the most? _ and it came to me almost immediately.” 

“That… isn’t funny,” Scorpius said slowly, wondering if Cole knew the internal battle he had been facing as a result of his joke. He could have left ages ago and stopped Thea! 

“Sorry, mate, but it is a bit.” Cole shrugged. 

“I have to go!” Scorpius practically sang he was so tightly wound. He would apologise later and explain to Cole why he’d taken the joke so badly, but now his priority was getting to Thea before she could tell Madam Abbott about her injury and ruin her plans for becoming a Harpy. He didn’t even stop to pick any of his stuff up; he could just come back for it later. 

Leaving a still-sniggering Cole behind in the half-cleaned workshop, Scorpius sprinted towards the stone steps which led from the dungeons, racking his brains for any shortcuts he knew which would get him to the hospital wing faster. He was counting on Thea and Rose’s romantic ‘talk’ making their journey much slower, but they were probably there by now. 

He had no idea how he was going to stall Thea when he got there; Thea on a normal day wasn’t exactly easy to dissuade when she wanted to do something, but Thea on Felix Felicis would be a real challenge. He’d have to appeal to her weakness, maybe bring up the idea that girls are too delicate to play Quidditch. Scorpius cringed at the thought, but if it worked… 

He stopped abruptly at the top of the steps, because up ahead were the very two people he was looking for. Thea and Rose, their arms around each other and barely looking where they were going. He squeaked in surprise and hurried over to them.

“Did you do it? Has it been an hour? Thea, I’m  _ so  _ sorry! I tried to stop you!” 

“What are you going on about, Scorpius?” Rose appraised him coolly. 

“Did you tell Madam Abbott about-“ 

He stopped talking instantly when he realised Thea was softly crying. She hastily wiped her eyes and forced a grin. 

“Oh no, you  _ did  _ tell Madam Abbott, she signed you off.” Scorpius felt anxiety claw at his throat, hot tears forming in his own eyes. He’d ruined everything for one of his best friends. 

“It’s okay, this is for the best. I shouldn’t have been trying to play for the rest of the season, I could have done myself permanent damage.” 

Rose wrapped her arm tighter around Thea’s shoulders. 

“But your plan,” Scorpius said weakly.

“It was a stupid plan,” Thea said morosely. “This is for the best. I can still be captain and coach at training, I just can’t  _ play _ anymore.”

Her tone of voice confirmed what Scorpius knew; telling Thea Jordan she had to watch everyone else play Quidditch and not take part was like telling Lily she had to eat a unicorn. 

“But the Harpies?” 

Thea glanced at Rose who gave Scorpius an uncertain look. “Did you hear me say  _ the Harpies don’t need to see her play in the final _ earlier?” 

Scorpius thought back to the chaos of the evening but all the details were hazy. “Maybe?” 

“Well I did say that and I’ve never been surer of anything.” 

“The Felix told you to say it,” Scorpius murmured, “so it might be okay?” 

“We don’t know,” Rose said shortly, “we’re hoping that means something good.” 

“Meanwhile, I’m stuck with this,” Thea pulled the neckline of her robes to one side to reveal a bandage around her shoulder. 

“Thea, I’m so sorry,” Scorpius said desperately. “I wish I’d never chosen this project.”

“Don’t be silly, you don’t need to be sorry!” Thea tapped his foot with her toe. “It’s fine, I’ll be fine.”

“Hi, gang,” Cole’s cheerful floated over. “That was fun. Are we all okay? Where’s Al?” He stopped short when he saw Thea’s face. 

“Aw no, T, are they not letting you apply for Minister until  _ next year?” _ He put an arm around her so she was flanked either side by him and Rose. 

“Something like that.” Thea gave a watery chuckle. “Come on, we might as well make the most of this high before it wears off. Exploding snap, anyone?” 

Scorpius gestured behind him and mumbled something about needing to clean up his experiment. 

“Done it, mate. All cleaned.” 

A smile crossed Scorpius’ face for the first time since he started the experiment. “Thanks, Cole.” 

“No problem, thanks for such a laugh tonight.” Cole slung his free arm around Scorpius’ shoulders and they all walked to the Slytherin common room looking like some strange, eight-legged creature. It was a comforting feeling, being surrounded by friends. 

Several rounds of Exploding Snap later, Albus still hadn’t returned from helping Lily. When Thea and Rose said goodnight, Scorpius did too, suddenly worrying (or perhaps hoping) that maybe Albus had been up in the dormitory this whole time. 

He was nowhere to be seen when Scorpius parted ways with the girls and Rose followed Thea into her dormitory. His bed was untouched and his Martin Miggs comic was still where he’d left it, leading Scorpius to believe that Albus hadn’t returned from helping Lily with her club in whatever way the Felix Felicis had told him he should. He felt mildly disappointed, but Albus had promised to return and hear his presentation, Scorpius trusted that he’d be back soon. 

Scorpius tapped his fingers impatiently against the side of the bed for a second; he wanted Albus now. Not only did he finally want to share his presentation, all cosy here in his bed together, but he just wanted his boyfriend close to him the way he’d been looking forward to all day. He wanted to fulfill his promise to himself to be honest with Albus and explain how he was feeling. 

He stared up at the ceiling, already anticipating the moment when Albus would fall down beside him and curl up against him sweetly like he always did. Scorpius would kiss him sleepily and they’d spoon until they were both sound asleep. Right  _ here,  _ like this. Scorpius could almost  _ feel  _ the warm weight of Albus’ body in his arms he knew it so well. So lovely. His Albus, his boyfriend. His lovely Albus. 

Only vaguely aware he was falling asleep, Scorpius felt a wave of happiness wash over him as he entered a dreamlike state.

“Scorpius, you’re teaching today’s Herbology lesson, don’t forget,” Professor Longbottom reminded him.

At that very second, Scorpius remembered that he  _ was  _ teaching the lesson, all about cedar bark and its magical properties. He knew a bit about it, but he didn’t have anything prepared and now the whole class was watching him, waiting for him to start.

“It was so great of you to volunteer,” Ruby said proudly.

“Yes, jolly wonderful,” Madam Abbott added.

_ Jolly wonderful _ was an interesting phrase, Scorpius thought to himself. Maybe he’d start his cedar bark lesson with  _ jolly wonderful.  _

“Jolly wonderful!” he said happily to the class, holding up a piece of cedar bark. Professor Longbottom applauded vigorously and handed him a trophy.

“Wow, can’t believe I won the trophy,” Scorpius said, feeling very pleased with himself. 

A clattering sound woke Scorpius up abruptly and he blinked stupidly, trying to identify the sound. Perhaps he’d dropped his trophy. Then reality hit and he realised he was in the Slytherin dorm, and it was dark but not pitch black, and that sound must have been Cole, leaving for an early morning run like he often did on a Monday.

Early morning.

It was early morning, and by all accounts, Scorpius was  _ alone  _ in his bed. Completely alone, just him on his own. Albus wasn’t curled up beside him. 

Scorpius hadn’t slept in a Hogwarts bed alone since fifth year, not counting the time in sixth year when he’d had the flu, or the time shortly after that when Albus had been on that overnight alchemy trip. So where was Albus now? 

He glanced over at Albus’ bed, but the curtains were open and the bedding untouched, Albus’ favourite striped pyjamas folded neatly atop the pillow by a house elf. Not only was Albus not in bed with him, he was apparently not in the dormitory at all. He hadn’t returned from helping Lily and the last time Scorpius had seen him, he’d been high on Felix Felicis and not acting like himself at all. 

Surely he was justified in feeling sheer panic course through him. It was still early - none of the other boys were even remotely awake - and Scorpius looked around stupidly, as if there might be somebody else he could ask for advice. How worried should he be? It was hard to distinguish between actual, necessary worry and his love for Albus sending him into a blind panic for no reason. 

He focused very hard on breathing at a normal rate, telling himself to calm down and think rationally. Albus was probably  _ fine,  _ he just hadn’t come back to the dormitory for whatever reason. There would be a perfectly good explanation for all of this. Scorpius struggled to think of what that perfectly good explanation could be as he dressed distractedly, buttoning his shirt up all wrong on the first attempt. 

Thea was waiting for him in the common room as usual but she didn’t look her normal polished self either. Her hair was in its usual high ponytail and her uniform was immaculate as ever, but something about the way she was carrying herself gave away that she wasn’t feeling as bright as usual. She gave Scorpius a forced smile and he grimaced, momentarily forgetting about Albus’ absence.

“Morning. I thought it was a joke that Felix Felicis gives you a hangover the next day, this is so real.” She pulled a face and massaged at her temples.

Scorpius blanched. “What? I didn’t know that! I’m sorry, can I do anything?” 

“You can do all the talking with McGonagall this morning,” she grinned. 

“Sorry!” Scorpius repeated. “And sorry for… the other thing. I feel terrible.” 

“Scorpius, please don’t feel bad. You haven’t done anything wrong, it’s an awful situation but this absolutely isn’t your fault.” She folded her arms and turned to leave the common room.

Scorpius scurried after her. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Thea looped her arm through his. “Just keep being my good friend.” 

They walked from the common room in companionable silence until they reached the first floor. 

“Is Albus suffering this morning too?” Thea asked innocently as they walked the empty corridors. 

Scorpius swallowed and looked over at her, slowing their walking pace in the process. “I haven’t actually seen Albus yet this morning. He’s sort of… missing.”

“ _ Missing?” _ Thea repeated incredulously. “How can he be missing?”

“He didn’t come back, after he left to help Lily yesterday. He didn’t come to bed and he’s not there now,” Scorpius tried to speak in an even and measured tone as if this was a simple observation. 

“He can’t have gone far,” Thea patted his arm reassuringly. “Maybe he stayed late with Lily doing whatever it was and slept in the Gryffindor common room. I’ll ask Rose after the meeting when we… oh.”

She had been about to say  _ when we meet for Quidditch.  _ Scorpius knew Thea and Rose trained together before breakfast on Monday mornings because she always went off to meet her after their meeting with McGonagall. But now Thea couldn’t play Quidditch. 

“Sorry,” Scorpius whispered. 

“No, it’s fine!” Thea flapped her hand dismissively. “Back to Albus, I bet he did sleep there, and he’ll go back to your dorm while we’re meeting McGonagall and you’ll see him at breakfast.” 

Scorpius didn’t know how to explain that he just knew that wasn’t the case. 

“It would be irrational to be worried, wouldn’t it?” 

Thea nodded. “For sure! If you haven’t seen him by the time classes start, then you can worry.”

“That’s the thing, we don’t see each other on a Monday anyway,” Scorpius sighed. 

“Well you still shouldn’t worry.” She gave the password and they ascended the stairs up to Professor McGonagall’s office.

Scorpius was distracted the whole time Professor McGonagall spoke, worrying about Albus and considering how odd it was of him not to come to bed last night. He spent most of the meeting worrying, talking himself out of worrying, then deciding to worry again. 

“Scorpius, are you alright? You’ve been uncharacteristically quiet,” Professor McGonagall commented with a pinched expression, which then cleared. “But of course, you have your St Mungo’s interview tomorrow.”

“Yes, that’s it,” Scorpius nodded. 

“And you’re all ready? Your presentation and the rest of it?” 

“Oh yes, I’m ready,” was all Scorpius could say. 

“All the best of luck to you. Mr Collins of Ravenclaw is also interviewing, although I believe on Wednesday.” 

“Thank you, Professor.” 

Thea nudged him on the way out of her office. “What  _ is  _ up with you? Are you nervous about tomorrow?”

Scorpius nodded which spurred Thea on to deliver him a motivational pep talk for almost the entire walk to the Entrance Hall. 

“Care to join Rose and me for some breakfast?” Thea said cheerfully, but there was a wistful edge to her voice. 

What Scorpius really wanted to do was go back to the dormitory and see whether Albus had returned or not. “Er-“

He was cut off from answering by the clattering sound of the front doors opening and a shout of laughter coming from three girls walking into the castle. It was Lily, Poppy and - Scorpius blinked for a second to make sure - Ruby. She was arm in arm with Lily, a rolled up yoga mat slung over her back and looking like she didn’t have a care in the world. 

“Good morning, Scorpius,” she smiled in his direction, looking very pleased with herself. 

“Scorp! And Thea, hi,” Lily added with a grin. “Is Al up yet?” 

Thea cast Scorpius a wary look and he gulped, turning to Lily with pleading eyes. “Lily, did Albus ever find you last night? He wanted to help with your club or something.”

“Is that what he called it?” Lily laughed. 

“Called what? What happened?” Thea sounded concerned. 

“Albus randomly turned up to our common room last night, around ten pm it was. Anyway, I was on my way to bed-“

“But I was in the common room,” Poppy interjected. “He made me go and get Lily, said it was really important.”

“So I came down,” Lily continued, “and he thrust a bunch of blossomberries at me, said  _ you’re welcome, sis  _ and off he went. It was  _ weird.” _

“Blossomberries!” Ruby put in. “Just like we talked about at the meeting, and how hard they are to find when it’s not full moon. He just turned up with a whole handful of them.” 

Scorpius exchanged wary looks with Thea. 

“Did Albus seem at all… odd to you?” Scorpius asked carefully.

“He wasn’t there long enough to seem anything,” Lily shrugged. “He gave me the berries and left.”

“We’re going to start experimenting with them tonight,” Poppy glowed with anticipation. 

“I don’t know how he found them, but I owe him,” Lily sounded content. 

“Lily, he was high on Felix Felicis. He’d been doing my experiment,” Scorpius explained gently.

Lily’s expression cleared. “Oh! That explains how he found the berries so easily, he had luck on his side. Thanks, Scorp!” She threw her arms around him in a brief hug. 

“Brilliant!” Poppy echoed, as the three of them started to walk away.

“Wait, but where is he now?”

Lily gestured for Poppy and Ruby to go on without her and turned back to Scorpius with a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“Albus didn’t come to bed last night. After he gave you the berries, where did he go?” A horrible thought crossed Scorpius’ mind and he felt his entire body slump. “Unless… did he tell you not to tell me? Does he not want me to know?”

Usually, the thought would have been absurd, but Scorpius’ sleep deprivation and worry for Albus, combined with Albus’ recent secretive behaviour, pushed the thought to the front of his mind.  

Lily looked serene, completely unaware of Scorpius’ thoughts. “I don’t know where he went. He was still carrying a load of the berries, he only gave me half. Maybe the other half were for someone else?”

“Or for his Potions project,” Thea said what Scorpius was thinking. 

He rolled his eyes ever so slightly. “He was supposed to hear my presentation last night, not go foraging for potion ingredients.”

Scorpius was wringing his hands together in anguish and Lily held onto them, her hands warm and comforting. “He probably went to work on his project. Is it possible he’s just still down in the workshop? Finley said it’s quite the set-up he has down there.”

“No, no,” Scorpius could hear his voice shaking, “he wouldn’t have come back to the castle and stayed away from me all night, even if he did find these berries. He wouldn’t do that!” 

While Scorpius’ tone was insistent, a little voice inside him was debating this point. If Albus had made some kind of breakthrough, it was highly likely he  _ had _ gone straight to the workshop and worked on his mystery potion all night. Instead of coming to find Scorpius like he’d promised. The thought filled him with despair and a kind of pain he could only associate with the rare times something caught him off guard and reminded him of his mum.

Lily looked shocked. “I didn’t mean that, Scorpius. I’m sure he has a perfectly good reason for not being here. Maybe he-” she cast around. “Maybe he went back to the forest and got lost.” 

Scorpius suddenly felt the strangest emotion; he _ wanted  _ Albus to be lost in the forest. Because if he was lost in the forest, that meant he hadn’t chosen not to come home to Scorpius last night. If he was still in the forest, he didn’t make the decision to choose his potion over his boyfriend again. 

Lily misread his emotions. “I was just being silly, I’m sure he’s not lost in the forest,” she said soothingly. “Al isn’t stupid or careless; he wouldn’t go heading back into the forest in the dark.”

“But he was high on Felix Felicis! That could have made him stupid or careless.” Scorpius knew he was clutching at straws now. 

Lily shrugged, seeming completely unphased by the idea of her brother being lost in the Forbidden Forest. “I doubt he went back to the forest. He had a lot of berries already with him.”

Of course, he knew where Albus was. He was in the potions workshop. He’d picked his potion over Scorpius. Again. 

“Are you coming to breakfast?” Lily asked quietly after a second and Scorpius shook his head. 

Lily shrugged and skipped off as Thea gave him a knowing look. “You have every right to be pissed off.”

“Do I?” Scorpius bit his lip. 

“Yes!” Thea exclaimed. “I love him to pieces but Albus has fucked up here. He agreed to hear your presentation, but instead he disappeared to mess around with potion ingredients? Scorp, if you don’t say something to him,  _ I  _ will.” 

Scorpius had never heard Thea use such a bitter tone of voice to talk about anyone other than Polly Chapman; it was quite disconcerting. He almost felt like crying. 

Thea’s expression softened. “Sorry, this comedown is no joke. Look, I know you love him, but Albus is being an idiot. Tell him you’re upset!” 

He gave the tiniest of nods and then a bigger one, and another until he realised he was just stood there determinedly nodding to himself. 

“That’s the spirit,” Thea said gently, rubbing the top of his arm and walking backwards towards the Great Hall. “Find me later if you need a talk.” 

Scorpius watched her leave, his heart heavy.

It was his free period this morning, and he was supposed to be practising his presentation, but Scorpius could feel a flicker of annoyance that threatened to grow and grow if he didn’t do something about it. 

With a steely determination, he turned on his heel and walked away from the Great Hall, down to the dungeons and straight to the room in which he now knew Albus was. He took a step closer to the door; the sounds of bubbling cauldrons were audible. Scorpius pushed open the door and stepped inside, taking a deep breath. 

The workbench Albus used was littered with faintly glowing, purple berries attached to overly large leaves. Several of the berries lay sliced up on a chopping board and another lot looked like they’d been liquified in a glass container. Three small cauldrons all simmered gently, each giving off a different sheen.

And in front of it all, curled up on top of a stack of parchment, his glasses askew against his folded arms, was Albus, sleeping soundly. 

Scorpius stared at him for a few seconds, unsure what to do. Should he wake Albus ? Back out of the room and let him sleep? But Scorpius could feel that twinge of annoyance again as he watched Albus’ closed eyelids flutter slightly. 

As if he sensed a presence in the room with him, Albus stirred and raised his head, blinking in confusion at the scene before him. He straightened his glasses and ran a hand through his sleep-rumpled hair, looking in Scorpius’ direction and grinning sheepishly. 

“Morning, love. How did you know where I was?” He crossed the room and went to take Scorpius’ hands but he didn’t reciprocate, letting them hang limply in Albus’ grip. Albus faltered, his expression shifting to one of concern. “Oh no, are you cross with me?” 

Scorpius could feel blood beating in his ears and he was sure he was blushing horribly by now. “Where have you been all night, Albus?” 

Albus looked surprised at the question. “Well, I’ve been here. Working on my project.”

“You’ve been in the forest and the last time I saw you, you were high on Felix Felicis and not acting like yourself! I was so worried when you didn’t come back and then I woke up and you weren’t there!” 

Albus chewed his nails. “I didn’t think you’d mind, you were working late anyway, but then I fell asleep in here. I’m sorry.” 

“I  _ wasn’t  _ working late, we agreed to meet.” Scorpius tried to think calmly and rationally and not let his emotions take over. He gripped his hair in agitation. “I thought you’d finished your project,” he said very quietly.

“The school part, yeah, but now I’m experimenting for real. And the deadline for licence applications is soon, I’ve barely even started my portfolio yet.” 

Scorpius took a deep breath. “Albus, I don’t want to sound like I’m being unsupportive, but I’m really getting a little bit fed up of playing second fiddle to your Potions project.”

Albus opened his mouth to respond then closed it again, his eyes full of hurt.

Scorpius ploughed on, talking to his shoes more than anything. “I don’t think you realise you’re doing it, and I know this project is important to you, but it hurts to feel like you’d rather be down here potioning than spending any time with me.” He took a breath and looked up at Albus. 

Albus looked completely nonplussed.

“I… Scorpius, I don’t want you to feel like that. Of course I want to spend time with you, I love you. This year has been so tough, it’s not like you haven’t been busy too with your presentation and everything. We both have dreams to realise, and it’s the worst that we’re missing out on time together as a result.”

“But I always tell you what I’m doing and when I’m doing it. It’s never this big secret. I don’t even know what you’re working on! I feel… Albus, I feel a bit like you’re shutting me out.” Scorpius was breathing very quickly, but he’d said what he wanted to say.

Albus sank back onto the bench behind him and stared at his knees. “That’s… that’s fair,” he said thoughtfully. “It’s not that I don’t want you to know-”

“It’s that you don’t want  _ anyone  _ to know because if it doesn’t work it’s less disappointing. You’ve told me.” He couldn’t hide the hurt in his voice.

Albus stared at him desperately. “You have to know that I would be  _ especially  _ affected if you were disappointed in me.”

Scorpius sat down beside him and placed a hand gently on his knee. “Albus, when am I ever disappointed in you? When have you ever done anything I wasn’t completely supportive and proud of?” 

Albus was silent.

Scorpius sighed. “I know how hard you’re working on whatever you’re working on. This potion, whatever it is, may as well be your boyfriend instead of me. The least you can do is tell me what it is.”

There was a pause, Albus didn’t make eye contact with Scorpius.

“You’re right, okay. I’ll tell you, but please don’t be disappointed in me if I don’t make this work.” He avoided Scorpius’s eyes, looking instead at his lap, the potions work table, and then the opposite wall. 

Scorpius squeezed the top of his leg. “I promise I could never be anything but completely and utterly proud of you.”

Albus nodded to himself a couple of times. “Okay. The potion I’m working on is a revised version of the cure for Dragon Pox.”

“Grishelda Gunhmoor’s cure for Dragon Pox?” 

Albus nodded. 

“Modified and improved by Albus Dumbledore in 1984 cure for Dragon Pox?” 

Albus nodded again. 

“Not touched since because everyone thought Dumbledore’s version would be the best there could be?” 

Albus frowned. “Really not helping with the whole  _ not being disappointed if I fuck this up _ thing.” 

“Sorry. But,  _ wow _ , Albus. What are you revising?”

“Well, you know how the potion will completely cure the sufferer, but will leave them slightly green and covered in marks?” 

“Jeremy Boot,” Scorpius said, referring to the Hufflepuff in the year above who’d been infected as a child; Finley’s older brother in fact. “It’s the price to pay to survive Dragon Pox.”

“But does there have to be a price to pay?”

Scorpius’ eyes widened. “Albus, are you really suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

Albus tucked his legs up underneath him and leaned forward, talking passionately with his hands. “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s the dragon scales which do that to a person, turn them green. But the dragon scales  _ aren’t  _ essential for the Healing properties of the potion, they’re just the only thing which makes the moonstone bind with the knotgrass.” 

“So if you can find something else to make the moonstone bind-“

“I can make the cure without the side effects!”

“Albus, that’s genius! Is there anything else which can do that though? Why has nobody thought of this before?”

Albus got up from the bench and started pacing up and down in front of his cauldrons. “This is the part where my experiment comes in. Because somebody  _ has  _ thought of this before, and tried all sorts of magical creatures instead of the dragon scales, but all that happens is the moonstone doesn’t bind or the side effects become even  _ worse.  _ That’s where my experiment is different. I don’t think we should be using a magical creature at all; I think that’s where everyone else has gone wrong.”

“You’re reminding me of Lily a bit now.” Scorpius grinned.

Albus stopped behind his cauldron. “She actually has inspired me a bit, because everyone is convinced only a magical creature could work, because of the moonstone, but Lily showed us sometimes plants can work better than animals. That’s what I’m testing, loads and loads of different plants to see if any of them will bind the moonstone. Most magical, some not. There’ll be no side effects, because they’re plants!”

“So you’re essentially trying to make vegan cure for Dragon Pox?” 

Albus nodded proudly. “Lily is going to be smug as anything if I can get this to work.” 

“She is. Wow. How’s it going so far?” 

Albus grimaced a bit. “I think I can safely say aquatic plants don’t work, and that if anything will, something foraged from a woodland area will work best. I’m looking into the effect of the moon cycle on the ingredients too, after all, it’s the moonstone I need to affect.” 

“So you went into the forest last night? Lily said you brought her blossomberries.”

Albus picked up a stem of the purple berries. “Yep, these, you know, the full moon thing they wanted to go foraging for.” 

“But how did you find them?” 

Albus shrugged. “The Felix Felicis told me where to look, I found them in seconds. Then I brought them to Lily but I felt like the potion wanted me to keep some. It had started to wear off by then but I knew I needed to experiment with them. Scorpius, I think these might be it!” His expression lit up.

“Seriously? You’ve done it?” 

“I don’t know yet, I’m only just starting to run experiments on them. But I have a good feeling!”

For someone who’d been reluctant to talk about the potion, Albus was practically fizzing with excitement now he’d got going. 

“Sounds like you’re going to be kept busy with this for a bit longer,” Scorpius said quietly.

Albus hesitated. “I don’t know what to say, Scor. You know I love you more than anything, but for the first time in my life I’m doing something I’m so good at, I could actually make a difference. It won’t be forever.”

“You were supposed to hear my presentation last night,” he said in a very quiet voice, almost too quiet for Albus to hear. 

“I can hear it tonight, can’t I? Your interview isn’t until tomorrow.” 

The way Albus brushed this off so casually made Scorpius’ stomach drop. He felt his face heat up and his ears burn. 

“Not really, no. You know we don’t have any time on a Monday night, which is exactly why you were going to hear it yesterday. It wouldn’t have taken long.” Scorpius couldn’t keep the bitter edge out of his voice. 

Albus frowned at him, his expression darkening. “What do you want me to do, Scorpius? Give up on my project? Fail at getting my licence? Let everyone down?” 

Scorpius breathed deeply. “You know that’s not what I said at all.” 

“Just because I’m not interviewing for a prestigious school like you are, doesn’t mean what I’m doing isn’t valid.” Albus crossed his arms protectively across his body. 

All Scorpius could do was gape at Albus in disbelief. Was that the impression he was giving? That he thought his Smash application was more  _ valid  _ than Albus’ potions licence? 

“I didn’t say it wasn’t valid! What you’re doing has always been valid, and now I actually know what it is then I can see even more how wonderful it is. I’m proud of you, Albus, and you’re working so hard, but I just wish you’d stop ignoring me in the process!” Scorpius felt tears prick his eyes, and he blinked them away.

Albus’ eyes flashed dangerously and he placed a hand over his chest in mock emotion. “So  _ proud  _ of poor little Albus Potter, who nobody thought would amount to much,  _ working so hard  _ to try and achieve something for once in his pathetic little life.”

How had their conversation spiralled to this? Scorpius struggled to pull back a sense of normality. 

“Albus,  _ please,  _ that’s not what I’m saying!”

“It’s what you’re thinking,” Albus muttered darkly and Scorpius was so overwhelmed with hurt at this accusation that he couldn’t hold his feelings in any longer. 

“Stop it! Stop twisting my words and inventing ideas about me. All I’m saying is I’m getting tired of never seeing you anymore because you’re always potioning. And I don’t want you to  _ stop  _ potioning, because it makes you happy and you’re great at it, I just wish  _ I  _ still made you that happy too.”

His words seemed to echo in the cavernous dungeon.  _ I just wish I still made you that happy too.  _

Albus didn’t deny it; he didn’t say anything. 

Scorpius took a deep breath. “You still haven’t even heard my presentation and my interview is tomorrow, so I suppose you never will! It mattered to me that you heard it, it really mattered!” 

“And this matters to me!” Albus exploded. “You’re going to Healer school, because of course you’ll get a place, and then you’ll excel in all your classes and become a Healer and be wonderful and perfect and you won’t have time for your stupid failure of a boyfriend anymore then.”

“Alb-“

“There’s no point us moving in together, it’ll just make everything more complicated when you get to Smash and inevitably want to break up with me. Sorry for trying to be good at something for the first time in my life. We can’t all be like you and be perfect at everything on the first try.” He looked down at his feet. 

Scorpius felt a surge of unfamiliar anger rush through him. “Oh, stop with the  _ poor little me _ . I don’t know how many times I need to tell you that I love you for who you are, not who you think you need to be. I thought we’d moved past this, I thought  _ you’d  _ moved past it, the insecurities and stupid expectations.”

“Oh they’re stupid now, are they? The expectations I have for myself. Stupid and unattainable and I should just give up now because I’ll never amount to anything.” Albus sat back on the bench and put his head in his hands, gripping his hair in frustration. 

“Yes, Albus, that’s exactly what I said. Those were my precise words and everything.” Scorpius’ voice was dripping with uncharacteristic sarcasm, even as he held back tears. “You’re not even listening to me.”

“I’m not even any good at listening, makes sense.” Albus shrugged and folded in on himself, poking the berries on the table. “You should be getting ready for tomorrow.” 

Scorpius stared at him in silence. “The only thing left to do is read you my presentation,” he said quietly after a second. 

Albus lifted his head off the table and gave Scorpius a challenging stare. “Go on then.” He spoke in a monotone.

“What?” 

“Read me your presentation. Go on.” 

“Albus, please don’t be like this,” Scorpius pleaded, taking a step closer towards him. 

“Like what, Scorpius? Like the terrible boyfriend I turned out to be?” 

“Where are you getting this from?” Scorpius exclaimed desperately. “I don’t think you’re a terrible boyfriend, I don’t think that!” 

He wanted to say  _ I love you _ but the words stuck in his throat. He was too scared to have them thrown back in his face. 

Albus had gone back to staring at the berries on the table. “You deserve someone better,” he said coldly. “I’m sorry, Scorpius.”

Tears sprung to the corners of Scorpius’ eyes. He couldn’t speak, he couldn’t even do anything except get out of that room as quickly as he could. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... don’t hate me!  
> Thanks to everyone who’s taken the time to comment, it makes my day to hear what you thought!  
> Tumblr: littlerose13writes  
> Twitter: @scrupiusmalfoy


	8. Stumble and Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpius interviews for St Mungo’s School of Healing Excellence, but his mind is elsewhere. Draco has some words of wisdom.

It was Tuesday. Not just any Tuesday though, today was _the_ Tuesday. The day of Scorpius’ interview which he’d been planning for and thinking about for longer than he could remember. But it felt nothing like he thought it would, because not once, ever, had he imagined he’d be leaving for London without even saying goodbye to Albus.

Monday had been awful. He’d run from the Potions workshop to the empty dorm and dived straight into his bed covers, sobbing into his pillow until his chest ached and his eyes felt raw. Nobody had seen him like that, and a few charms meant his red eyes and blotchy face were gone by the time he ran out of tears to cry. Professor Flitwick hadn’t minded that he was almost an hour late to double Charms and Scorpius had welcomed the distraction of his tricky classwork. He didn’t talk to anyone else all day, other than Madam Abbott briefly in the hospital wing.

He hadn’t seen Albus, which wasn’t uncommon for a Monday, but there was no doubt Albus was avoiding him when he returned late after rounds to find both their beds empty. He knew this wasn’t healthy, that he should talk to someone about how he was feeling. But that made it _real,_ and as a result, he’d avoided Thea all day too.

Scorpius had fallen into bed, put up a silencing charm and basically cried himself to sleep. He slept fitfully, tossing and turning and waking up every few minutes, half convinced Albus was beside him and sadly remembering he wasn’t. His dreams flashed between standing blankly on a stage and forgetting every word of his presentation and Albus’ cold stare from that morning.

But now it was the day of the interview. He was awake early, ready to Floo to St Mungo’s before most Hogwarts students were even awake, not that he’d really slept all that much. The few times he slept without Albus were hard enough, but the constant reminder that he wasn’t there because of their argument filled Scorpius with an aching sadness.

It showed in his face and in his terribly messy hair that he was miserable and nervous. Scorpius stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, trying to remember if he had hair potion left before splashing his face with cold water in an attempt to pull himself together. Now he was miserable, nervous and wet.

He sighed, pretending not to notice Cole had woken up too as he reluctantly reached for Albus’ rarely used bottle of hair potion. It made sense that he would have some left when Scorpius had run out, he probably wouldn’t even notice Scorpius had used it.

“Morning, Blondie,” Cole blinked blearily. “Where’s Al? He’s not in your bed.”

Scorpius froze, realising he was asking because it was the morning Albus and Cole usually went running together. He delayed answering, combing his hair neatly so his restless night wasn’t obvious anymore. “I expect he’s in his own bed.”

Cole poked his head out of the bathroom and back in again. “Nope, completely untouched.”

“Then I have… no idea,” Scorpius replied pointedly.

“Oh. Have you two had a row?” Cole came closer to him with a tender expression. “Is that why he isn’t here?”

Scorpius nodded, not wanting to go into detail. “I assume he slept in the Potions workshop again.”

“Scorpius, I’m sorry.” Cole patted him sympathetically on the shoulder. “I don’t know what’s happened, but that’s the last thing you need before your interview. Do you want to talk about it?”

Scorpius was touched by Cole’s words. They were friends of course, but Cole was much closer to Albus than he was to Scorpius.

“That’s okay, it was a silly argument. I’m just going to,” he swallowed, “go to my interview and talk to him later.”

“Good plan, my man.” Cole gripped his shoulder firmly for a second then let go. “Listen, I hope it works out okay. And good luck for the interview. I, er, I reckon Albus’ll still turn up for our run if you want to-“

“That’s okay, I have to leave,” Scorpius said quietly.

Cole nodded solemnly. “Good luck again.”

“Thanks,” Scorpius said in a small voice, watching him leave and feeling apprehension build inside him.

He dressed in his pre-selected and smartest robes, ran his eyes over the contents of his briefcase to check again he had everything and fastened his cloak. It was June, the weather was warm enough that a cloak wasn’t necessary, but Scorpius felt as if an icy chill had settled inside him.

For the whole walk to Professor McGonagall’s office, he worked very hard on not replaying any of Albus’ words from the day before. This had been the pattern for the last twenty-four hours, and he’d taken to distracting his mind by reciting his presentation over and over. He knew it was the wrong thing to do, to repress his emotions like this, but he had to get through the interview. Afterwards, when he saw his dad, he could crumble.

But not yet.

“Good morning, Scorpius,” Professor McGonagall greeted him with a pleasant smile. “I trust you have everything you need?”

“Yes, Professor,” Scorpius tapped his briefcase and swallowed.

_Albus._

Scorpius shook his head briskly to clear the thought.

“Best of luck to you, I’m sure they will be highly impressed.” She lead him over to the fireplace and passed a jar of Floo powder to him, then she withdrew a gold pocket watch. “Right on time.”

“Thanks, Professor,” Scorpius forced a smile and took a handful of powder, throwing it into the grate and stepping into the roaring, emerald flames. “St Mungo’s School!”

He half stumbled out of the fireplace at the other end, straightening up and brushing his shoulders of stray ash. He was standing in a grand hallway, lined with portraits, most of whom were snoozing. A small, golden lectern was set up opposite the fireplace underneath a floating sign which read: _Interview Applicants Sign In Here._

There was nobody else around, Scorpius felt like he might be the first person here. He approached the lectern, picked up the quill and ran his eyes down the list for his name. A few of the names were recognisable to him as Hogwarts alumni from the years above him; they would have much more experience than Scorpius did. There were also names which sounded as if they came from other countries; they too, would have knowledge Scorpius didn’t.

He tried not to think about any of the other candidates, signing next to his name and noting that he was only the second person to do so. As soon as he signed his name, the floating sign morphed to read: _Turn Left, Enter Lecture Theatre._ He concentrated intently on each step he took to the Lecture Theatre, actively suppressing any thoughts about Albus.

Inside the Lecture Theatre, rows and rows of seating were angled down and towards a small stage. Scorpius stopped for a second, imagining himself sitting in one of the seats and learning with lots of other students. He grinned to himself then suddenly felt a bit sick and breathless.

“Good morning,” a smiley witch in a lime-green tshirt held out a clipboard. “You must be Scorpius.”

Feeling breathless was never good, that made him want Albus.

“Yes, yes, I’m Scorpius,” he all but stuttered before clearing his throat and attempting to pull himself together. “Good morning.”

“Take a seat over there for me,” the girl smiled, “you’re one of the first here but we’ll be starting shortly.”

He followed the girl’s gesture down a row of seats near the front of the theatre while she turned to greet the next person, who must have Flooed in shortly after Scorpius.

“Hi,” said the applicant already sitting down. “I’m Scott, nice to meet you.”

Scorpius vaguely recognised Scott. He had been two years above Scorpius at Hogwarts and was one of James Potter’s friends. He’d been at James’ seventeenth birthday party, before Scorpius and Albus had even got together.

_Albus._

He bit down hard on the inside of his lip and mustered a smile.

“I’m Scorpius,” he replied, trying not to feel intimidated.

“Are you still at Hogwarts?” Scott asked curiously with a hint of recognition.

“Yes, only a few months left.”

“Wow, there’s no way I would have been mature enough to apply here in my seventh year, too busy partying, had no idea what I wanted to do with my life,” Scott mused with a chuckle.

Scorpius nervously joined in. “I’ve always wanted to be a Healer.”

“Well, good luck, mate.” Scott grinned.

“You too,” Scorpius smiled politely.

There was a pause in which a third applicant came and sat down, followed by a fourth. They all made small talk while more people arrived and Scorpius focused very hard on what everyone was saying so as not to let his mind wander. Before long, the small lecture theatre contained around thirty people.

“Good morning everybody,” a quiet yet clear voice commanded almost immediate silence and there was a buzz of anticipation. “Welcome to St Mungo’s School of Healing Excellence and congratulations on getting this far in the application process.”

The speaker was a tall witch with short blonde hair and a kind smile. She was dressed impeccably in powder blue robes and a small, golden badge was glinting on her breast pocket. Scorpius knew it depicted the St Mungo’s logo of a wand crossed with a bone.

“My name is Larissa Kensington, Admissions Director here at St Mungo’s. As you all know, this is the final stage in our application process. We do not choose our intake based on numbers; there is no minimum or maximum quota for each class of training Healers. Instead, we take only the best of you. It could be that all twenty-seven people in this room join us next year.

“We are interviewing all week long, and will be contacting successful applicants by the end of next week. You will be called for interview one at a time from this room, by either myself or one of our panel of three: Professor Araminta Grand, Healer Wilton McDermott and Professor Jasper Rise.”

There was a smattering of polite applause as the interviewing panel stood up. They looked friendly enough, but Scorpius felt a swoop in his stomach as the reality of the situation really hit him. He was about to actually deliver the presentation he’d been thinking about for so long.

Each of the interviewers read a name from a list and they left through a side door. Scott was one of the first four and he gave Scorpius a thumbs up as he passed. He hoped it wasn’t in alphabetical order and he wouldn’t have to wait long.

He was given a short form to fill in and the room was fairly quiet, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Scorpius filled the form in fairly quickly and found himself scribbling backwards and forwards on a spare bit of parchment, rhymically. He tried to breathe in time with each stroke, emptying his mind as much as he could.

Not long afterwards, Professor Araminta Grand returned through the side door and consulted the clipboard in her hand.

“Scorpius Malfoy,” she read in a crisp tone.

Scorpius took a deep breath, and stood up, approaching the Professor with as confident a smile as he could muster. They shook hands and she lead him through the side door.

_This is it, Scorpius._

“Just in here,” said Araminta, veering off into a small room with only a few tables and chairs.

Scorpius blinked in surprise for a second, having thought the room would be empty. There were a dozen or so pairs of eyes staring back at him.

“Some of our research students,” Araminta explained, closing the door. “Don’t worry, they’re not here to judge you. They have assignments to complete on the demographic of our intake. They might ask you a few questions about your choices after you’ve presented.”

“Okay,” Scorpius said in a squeaky voice, clearing his throat and trying again. “Okay, that’s great.”

“Are you alright, dear?” Araminta touched his arm lightly and Scorpius clenched his jaw. Her expression made him presume he looked as if he were on the verge of tears, even though he was long past the point of crying over Albus. Maybe that was how he’d looked all morning.

“Yes,” he said determinedly. “Just… just…”

“It’s okay to feel nervous. Take as long as you need to collect yourself.” Araminta smiled kindly and took a seat in front of him. “After your presentation, you’ll sit down here so we can have a chat. I’m not trying to catch you out, Scorpius. Just do your best, whenever you’re ready.”

Scorpius nodded and swallowed his nerves down, even though his emotions had little to do with the interview. He set his briefcase down, removed the prompt cards he’d made himself and looked up at the assembled room, pretending he was just presenting to the prefects and Thea again.

This was going to be okay.

_“Since the 1910 invention of the hereditary full body scan charm, the existence of ancestral blood curses has been widely researched. Perhaps the most fascinating of these ancestral curses are Maledictions of the Blood, thought for a long while to be completely unavoidable…”_

It wasn’t the flawless delivery he’d hoped for. He stumbled over the phrase _many maledictuses_ in a way he never had when practising and there was a wobble in his voice he could do nothing to prevent.  Scorpius tried to keep as calm as he could, but when he brought one of the research students to tears talking about his mum and her experience, his voice cracked and he had to take a second to collect himself.

When the presentation ended, he apologised profusely for making the research student cry then almost tripped over his briefcase on his way to sit down. Araminta was smiling as if she’d enjoyed the presentation, but it also could have been in pity; Scorpius wasn’t sure. She asked him to expand on a few of his points about why he most wanted to be a Healer and shared some interesting anecdotes from her own time training on the Curse Ward.

“Of course this was several decades ago,” she reminisced fondly then glanced at her watch. “Goodness me, we’ve overrun! Look at me blathering on.” She stood up and extended her hand to Scorpius. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Scorpius. We’ll be in touch soon.”

He felt his heart sink in disappointment, unable to shake the feeling that he’d blown it.

“Thank you,” Scorpius shook her hand and followed her lead out of the room and in the opposite direction to the lecture theatre.

“Good luck with the remainder of your school year,” Araminta smiled with her eyes sparkling.

Scorpius trudged along in bitter disappointment. Everything was falling apart: his presentation hadn’t gone very well, his relationship with Albus could be over, he felt as if he had nothing left to focus on that didn’t make him miserable. The only tiny spark on the horizon was knowing he was about to see his dad, that he could unload all of this sadness. Sadness about Albus.

_Albus._

They’d argued, really, truly and properly _argued._ For once, he couldn’t place where Albus’ head was really at, or find any justification for his words other than he didn’t want to be with Scorpius anymore, and that thought made his heart squeeze painfully until he felt sick. He focused very hard on his breathing, suddenly experiencing that old worry again that a panic attack was imminent.

Before he knew it, he was at the end of a long and unfamiliar corridor and he realised with a hint of panic that this wasn’t the way he should have come. He turned back, but he was now completely disoriented. All the doorways and corridors looked the same, which one had he come from? There wasn’t anyone around to ask.

He took a guess and turned a corner, right into a large group of students spilling out of a seminar. Scorpius tried to look like he knew where he was going, not wanting to seem like he was lurking around a school he didn’t even go to. A few of the students smiled at him as he walked past pretending to know where he was going.

“Scorpius!” A bright voice of recognition came from one of the students and, surprised, he turned around.

Coming towards him was a girl with pale blonde hair and a friendly smile. It was Freya Everfall, she was the year above and had been Head Girl last year; Thea always spoke very highly of her, in fact, Scorpius had often suspected she had a tiny crush on Freya.

“Oh! Hello, Freya,” he said somewhat stiffly. His heart was still clenching but he felt his body relax a bit; at least he could ask Freya how to get back to the entrance without feeling silly.

“What are you doing here?” She thrust her hands in her pockets casually.

“I had an interview,” Scorpius told her nervously.

“Oh, how was it?” Freya asked politely.

Scorpius simply pulled a face and Freya nodded in understanding. He took a deep breath. “I didn’t know you were a Smash student.”

Freya shrugged. “I’m not like, a _Smash studen_ t, not like everyone thinks of the Healing programme anyway. I’m training to be a midwitch, you know, delivering magical babies.”

“That’s great.” Scorpius tried to sound appropriately interested.

“How’s Head stuff? How’s Thea?” She spoke with an easy confidence.

“Yeah, she’s fine, we’re both fine.” He forced a smile and the action alone made him feel a bit more normal, but not by much.

Freya leaned towards him conspiratorially. “Have you opened that bottle of Firewhiskey yet?”

“Yes, actually, the other day! Prefect evaluations,” he spoke in a high-pitched voice, not wanting to go into detail about the heart to heart conversation he and Thea had ended up having which had given him so much hope that was now gone.

“Ah, say no more,” Freya waved her hand loftily. “Well, I’ll let you get on. Good luck with your application, I hope you get in!”

“Thanks, er, where’s the way out?”

Freya chuckled and gave him some directions to exit the building, which he followed without too much difficulty. Scorpius was such a mess of emotions at this point that he was really very glad the next person he would see would be his dad. He wanted and needed to be around the person who he could guarantee would always love him no matter what, and just let go.

Punctual as ever, his dad was stood waiting outside what looked like the service entrance to _Purge and Dowse_ but in reality was the way in to Smash. It was strange stepping from the wooden panelled, richly carpeted, grand interior to the very ordinary muggle alleyway. The door closed behind Scorpius and instantly took on the appearance of a wooden board with _Caution, Broken Glass_ stamped across it.

“How did it go?” he questioned but all Scorpius could do was nod enthusiastically.

Draco Malfoy looked a bit out of place, in his sweeping charcoal grey robes, but then again so did Scorpius. They would have made quite the pair, emerging onto the muggle street together. Fortunately, that wasn’t the plan.

“Let’s get out of here. Where would you like to go for lunch? Your choice.” His dad smiled and held out his arm so Scorpius could side along apparate.

“Home,” Scorpius managed to squeak out.

Draco dropped his arm and moved swiftly, cupping Scorpius’ face and peering into his eyes. He was silent for a second, Scorpius felt hot tears begin to form, then his dad nodded briskly and held Scorpius close to him. Scorpius barely noticed the sensation of side-along apparition and instead buried his face in his dad’s chest as if he were five years old again.

“We’re home.” His dad didn’t let go of him, guiding him gently to the front door of the manor, steering him through the hallway and into the nearest sitting room, where he lowered Scorpius onto a burgundy, velvet sofa and sat beside him. “What happened with your interview?”

He was going to talk about stumbling over his words, about how he hadn’t sounded the way he wanted to, but Scorpius knew what he was really upset about.

“It’s n-not that,” Scorpius wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. Draco sighed and summoned a handkerchief. “The interview was f-fine, I suppose, I d-don’t know.”

“Then may I ask why you’re currently dissolving into tears on our sofa?”

Something about his dad’s dry and familiar tone gave Scorpius such a warm feeling that he managed a watery smile. “It’s Albus,” he said with a sniff.

“Ah,” Draco said simply.

There was a long pause, save for Scorpius’ shaky breathing.

“Would you like to tell me what happened?” his dad said eventually, placing a hand on his knee.

Scorpius nodded then wondered where he should begin.

“Things have been… difficult, for a while.”

As soon as he said those words and watched his dad nod in an understanding way, he wanted to take them back; they felt unfair.

“No! Not difficult, that’s not it. I love Albus, and our relationship has been as wonderful as always.” He paused wondering how to continue. “When we actually see each other.”

“Go on,” Draco urged.

“We’ve both been increasingly busy this year, he’s _obsessed_ with his final year potions project, I’ve been preparing for my interview.” Scorpius swallowed before voicing his thoughts. “I just feel like I’ve been the one making all the effort recently.”

It was a scary admittance, because it was true. And if Albus didn’t want to make time for him anymore, was it possible Albus didn’t love him anymore? The thought made Scorpius’ heart clench in physical pain.

“How so?” his dad pressed gently, giving nothing away.

“My presentation today. I’ve wanted Albus to hear it ever since I finished it, but every time we planned time in, he ended up potioning in some way or another. He was supposed to hear it on Sunday night but he went foraging in the forest for potions ingredients!”

“I’d like to think Albus would never hurt you like that on purpose,” Draco mused, wrapping his arm around Scorpius’ shoulders. “Have you told him you’re feeling this way?”

Scorpius relaxed against his dad’s side. “That’s exactly the problem. I did tell him yesterday, but I did it all wrong and he didn’t take it very well. We haven’t spoken since. He accused me of thinking my Smash application was more _valid_ than what he’s doing, that I wouldn’t have time for a _failure_ like him and that he didn’t want to move in together anymore.”

Draco hummed at this piece of information like he was mulling it all over.

“Dad,” Scorpius pulled away and looked straight into his dad’s eyes, “it sounded like he was breaking up with me.”

As terrifying as the idea was, it was also distinctly freeing to speak this fear out loud, especially to someone he knew would listen and react rationally. His dad wouldn’t lie to him just to reassure him.

Draco set his hands atop Scorpius’ shoulders and spoke in very calm and measured tones. “Scorpius, you have one of the kindest and most compassionate hearts of anyone I’ve ever known.”

Scorpius watched as his dad’s gaze flickered to the ring on his left hand, currently resting below Scorpius’ ear. He knew they were both thinking about his mum; Dad always said Scorpius had inherited her kind heart. He felt a sudden, tugging ache in his chest, wondering what Mum would be saying if she were here.

Draco cleared his throat. “Albus knows that, he knows that you don’t think that about him. Tell me, him saying he doesn’t want to live with you anymore, why is that?”

Scorpius sniffed, feeling like it was almost too awful to say. “He said… it would be _easier_ when I inevitably _break up_ with him. He seemed convinced that would happen, I don’t know why.”

“Did this, by any chance, happen at the very height of your disagreement?”

“Well, yes it did. I see what you’re saying and I know Albus has a tendency to speak before he thinks,” Scorpius muttered, really only properly considering this for the first time, “but…”

He wasn’t sure how that sentence was going to end, luckily his dad didn’t need anymore.

“I know, it doesn’t make it any easier to hear.” His dad nodded and pulled Scorpius in to him, holding him in his arms and stroking his hair. Scorpius let out a huge sigh, realising he no longer needed to cry.

“Thanks, Dad,” he breathed and pulled back to smile at him.

“Fear does strange things to our brains, Scorpius,” Draco said wisely.

“Fear?”

“Yes, fear. Your fear of losing each other, it’s part of loving someone and it sounds like Albus is scared. Maybe even that he’s lashing out to protect himself.”

Of course he was right, of course he was. Albus’ cold demeanour and sharp, cutting words of the day before weren’t who he really was.

“So what should I do?”

“Go back to school tonight and talk to him. I would imagine he’s in as much of a state as you are,” Draco observed shrewdly. “Maybe more, knowing Albus. It’ll be eating him alive, knowing he’s upset you.”

Scorpius winced at his words; they made him feel terrible, because he knew deep down they were true.

“What if he really does want to break up with me?” Scorpius offered quietly.

“No use worrying about a _what if_ , Scorpius,” his dad patted his knee. “Talk to him. That’s what you need to do.”

Scorpius sniffed and lifted his head up, rolling his shoulders back and taking a deep breath. “You’re right, okay, I’ll do that.”

“That’s the spirit,” his dad smiled, “now, do you still want to go out for lunch? We can always eat here, Harry’s given me a recipe for a mushroom and lentil lasagne which is supposed to be very good.”

Scorpius wrinkled his nose; he was very distrustful of mushrooms.

“Didn’t think so.” His dad laughed and patted his hair, the closest he ever came to ruffling it. Scorpius beamed, his first real smile of the day, and let out a sigh of relief; maybe it really would be okay.

* * *

After lunch with his dad and a quick Floo journey back to school, he took one shaky step out of the fireplace and looked around, wondering if Professor McGonagall was in her office, but it was evidently empty. His heart felt lighter than it had that morning, the pressure of the day lifted, but he still felt slightly sick when he remembered his argument with Albus. What he wanted more than anything was to forget everything they’d argued about and tell his boyfriend how the interview had gone. But mainly he wanted to talk to Albus, this time with a clear head.

He had to find Albus and of course Scorpius knew exactly where he’d be.

He began the long walk from Professor McGonagall’s office to the dungeons trying to work out what he was going to say.

_Albus, I don’t want to fight with you anymore. Let’s talk about this._

Would that be enough? Scorpius knew that what they both really needed was to be able to make more time for each other in a way neither of their schedules would allow. But it was just temporary wasn’t it? When exams were over and final projects and portfolios handed in, things would go back to normal, wouldn’t they? If Albus hadn’t meant what he’d said…

He was lost in his thoughts and likely muttering to himself, probably looking like a bit of a lunatic, which is why he jumped a mile when he heard his name called from the other end of the corridor.

“Scorpius, thank goodness I found you! You have to come quickly!”

It was Thea and she looked harassed and panicked, like she’d just run a long way in a very short time.

Scorpius walked towards her, concerned. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Albus is in the hospital wing,” she said quickly when he reached her, tugging his hand to pull him along.

Scorpius dropped her hand and stopped in the middle of the corridor. “The hospital wing? Why? What’s happened? Is he okay? What’s _happened?”_

While he asked several more questions, he took her hand again and started running in the direction of the staircase, jumping two at a time to move faster.

Thea kept up with his pace. “I don’t know, I was down in the dungeons with Rose and he was next door and we just saw Professor Jacobs levitating him away and shouting at us to turn all his cauldrons off. I said I’d come and find you and bring you to him, thank goodness you’re back. I don’t know if there’s been an accident or if he’s ill or what but I’m sure he wants you there, Scorpius.”

The way she said _I’m sure he wants you_ gave Scorpius a sneaking suspicion that Albus had confided in Thea about the argument they’d had before he left. The one which now seemed ludicrously insignificant compared to his desperate need to be at Albus’ side if he was hurt or in pain.

“We argued… yesterday, big argument.” He was mumbling random words but Thea nodded in understanding.

“I know, I know, Scorpius.” They’d reached the hospital wing doors and stopped. “Just, get in there, okay? Things will be alright. I’ll wait out here. Rose is meeting me, let us know how he is?”

Scorpius was vaguely aware he was nodding. Resisting the urge to barrel through the double doors and demand to see his boyfriend at once, Scorpius pushed them open with shaky hands, his eyes flicking from bed to bed looking for Albus. He found the right bed immediately, because Lily sat to the side of it looking tearful and holding the hand of an unconscious Albus.

“Albus!” Scorpius rocketed over and Lily jumped but didn’t let go of his hand. Albus was pale and his eyes were closed, his dark hair falling over them in its usual messy way. Scorpius reached out and gently brushed it away with his fingertips; Albus didn’t even stir. “Albus?” he whispered fearfully.

“He’s been given sleeping potion,” Lily explained in a tearful whisper.

Madam Abbott came bustling over and waved her wand, consulting a floating chart above Albus’ lifeless body. “Is he okay? What happened?” Scorpius pleaded with her, trying to make sense of the chart himself but failing to understand anything.

“Calm down, Mr Malfoy. He’s fine. Give me a second to explain everything.”

She didn’t even look at Scorpius and went back to her charts. Scorpius was breathing very heavily and he looked at Lily for answers.

“He took a potion, something he shouldn’t have taken, and collapsed. That’s all I know.” She looked apologetic that she couldn’t tell him more.

“He _collapsed?”_ Scorpius tried to keep the panic from his voice, but Albus had never even fainted before. He wanted to shake him awake, hear Albus’ voice.

Lily let go of her brother’s hand and offered it to Scorpius to hold. For a second, he felt like he shouldn’t take it, but the urge to feel warmth in Albus’ lifeless body was too strong. He gripped Albus’ hand, enjoying the familiarity of it, and with his other hand he found Lily and held onto her too.

“How long have you been here?”

“Not long. My mum and dad are coming,” she sighed and gazed at Albus. “Idiot. Why did he drink his experiment?”

Scorpius tried not to think about how serious things sounded if Albus’ parents were coming. “What did he drink?”

“That,” Madam Abbott turned to face them, “is quite the tale, it would appear. What _didn’t_ he drink is more like it? It seems your boyfriend was testing out several combinations of ingredients, all of which are perfectly safe to consume by themselves but volatile in the very specific combinations which Mr Potter just happened to put them.”

“ _Volatile?”_ Scorpius echoed, gripping Albus’ hand harder. “When will he wake up?”

The doors to the hospital wing opened again with a loud bang and Harry Potter crossed the room in about three strides. Scorpius instantly dropped Albus’ hand and made space for Harry at the side of the bed. From the lack of surprise on Harry’s face, he’d clearly been informed that Albus was lying unconscious in the hospital wing. He pushed his son’s hair back from his forehead and stroked his cheek.

“Al, what have you done?” he whispered.

“Where’s Mum?” Lily asked fearfully.

“On her way with James,” Harry replied and looked at Madam Abbott. “She’ll be here in a minute.”

Madam Abbott nodded and busied herself with some parchment on a clipboard. “I’ll come back when she’s here.”

Harry looked right at Scorpius. “Were you with him when he collapsed? What did he drink?”

It pained Scorpius to answer Harry honestly; he felt a bit like he was letting him down.

“No, I’ve been in London today interviewing for Smash, only just got back.” Scorpius spoke in a very small voice, wanting to hold Albus’ hand again more than anything.

Harry looked a bit taken aback. “Right. Yes. How did it go?”

Scorpius knew Harry wasn’t interested in discussing his career at that moment and he was saved from answering by the doors opening again and Ginny Potter arriving with James close behind. By the looks of it, James had been mid-flight and was still wearing mud splattered Puddlemere training kit. Ginny had a smart-looking quill tucked behind her ear.

“Where is he? Albus?” Ginny rushed over to the bed, instantly cupping Albus’ face and pressing her ear to his heart, as if to check everyone was telling the truth and he was alive. She straightened up and gripped Harry’s forearms.

“What’s happened to him?” James said, watching his brother very quietly.

Madam Abbott hurried over and hesitated for just a fraction of a second when she took in her audience: four Potters and Scorpius watching her intensely, waiting for as many answers as she could give them.

“I’ve been speaking to Professor Jacobs to ascertain exactly what’s happened here,” she gestured behind her to the closed door of her office which, presumably, contained Professor Jacobs. “It seems Albus has ingested a mixture of knotgrass and sage. These two ingredients combined at the temperature he was working with become highly acidic which is why he collapsed. I’ve removed the mixture, it can’t do any further damage, but I’ve given him a sleeping potion while I work out what’s going on.”

Scorpius felt weak as the words _highly acidic_ and _further damage_ reverberated around his brain.

Harry stared between Madam Abbott and his son. “No… Albus would never _intentionally_ …”

“It sounds as if he got over-excited, thinking his experiment had worked.”

“So he celebrated by _drinking acid?”_ James goggled at his brother.

“Not exactly.” Professor Jacobs interjected; Scorpius hadn’t even realised she’d come out of the office. “Do you know what Albus has been working on?”

Harry and Ginny shared confused looks. “He hasn’t mentioned it in any of his letters.”

“He’s been experimenting with moonstone and knotgrass, trying to get them to bind without the use of dragon scales,” she explained.

“ _Yeah,_ he has,” Lily whispered smugly, smiling fondly at her sleeping brother.

“When moonstone and knotgrass bind, the potion bubbles and fizzes. Albus thought he’d been successful because it fizzed.” Professor Jacobs gestured to Albus’ sleeping form.

“That still doesn’t explain why he _drank_ it,” Harry looked annoyed at this explanation.

“Trust me, I would _not_ have authorised a blind taste test like this before we’d even checked it had worked. Albus got a bit excited.” Professor Jacobs grimaced.

“But he’ll be okay?” James looked worried now.

Madam Abbott took over. “Yes. He got here in plenty of time, I vanished the acid before it could do any permanent damage, but he’ll be rather unwell for a while. He’s essentially burned himself on the inside.”

Ginny winced. “When can you wake him up?”

Madam Abbott checked her watch and the clipboard in her hand. “The potion will wear off in about an hour. Would you like a cup of tea? I can have one sent up.”

Ginny nodded vaguely and crouched beside Albus’ bed, gripping his hand and stroking his forehead. “Pull up a chair, Potters.”

Scorpius bit his lip. He wasn’t a Potter. Was that Ginny’s kind way of asking him to leave and let them be alone as a family?

“I should tell Thea and Rose he’s going to be okay,” he said in a squeaky voice. “They’re waiting outside.”

“Then come straight back, Scorpius.” Ginny smiled warmly, answering his question.

“Yes, you need to be here when he wakes up,” Harry added with a knowing smile.

Scorpius couldn’t help but smile too before he left the hospital wing, glancing at Albus’ sleeping form as he did.

Thea was chewing her nail, something Scorpius had never seen her do before, and Rose was pacing around a short distance away from the doors. He scurried over to them and they both stared at him expectantly.

“Well? How is he?” They demanded in one voice.

“He’s going to be okay,” Scorpius said weakly. “He accidentally drank a potion which was… highly acidic. He’s… _burned_ himself.” He was choking on his words. “On the inside, and now he’s asleep, and-“

Both girls enveloped him in a hug as he felt a huge sob wrack through his body.

“Shh, Scorp. It’s okay.” Thea spoke soothingly into his ear and Rose rubbed his back.

“We argued and now he’s hurt and we don’t know how badly and he’s not even _awake_ and I’m so worried.” His words came out in a garbled rush.

“He’s not awake?” Rose looked fearful.

“Sleeping potion.” Scorpius wiped at his eyes. “He’ll wake up soon.”

“But you want him now,” Thea finished for him.

Scorpius nodded miserably, grateful that Thea understood. “And I’m worried he won’t even want to see me when he does wake up. But I need to talk to him, I was… on the way to talk to him, to sort things out.” He choked over a sob and Thea and Rose gathered him into a hug again.

“Of course he’ll want to see you, you’ll be the first person he wants to see, you’ll get to sort things out, don’t worry.” Thea continued with these sorts of positive affirmations in a calm, soothing voice until Scorpius’ breathing evened out and he felt ready to go back inside.

“Do you want us to come with you?” Thea offered uncertainly.

“No, it’s okay, I’ve got it,” he answered shakily, pointing to the door.

Thea nodded. “We’ll be in the common room, okay? Find us if you need to.”

Scorpius nodded and turned away from them to go back into the hospital wing.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Better than the last chapter...?  
> Thanks so much to everyone who commented last chapter, even though most of you weren’t that happy with me😂let me know what you thought of this chapter!  
> Thanks to Marina and Beks, next chapter in a week :)  
> Tumblr: littlerose13writes  
> Twitter: @scrupiusmalfoy


	9. Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Albus still in the hospital wing, Scorpius prepares to have a difficult conversation.

Scorpius stood in the doorway awkwardly, watching the Potters circled around Albus. James had his arm around Lily and she looked tiny curled into his muscular Quidditch frame. Ginny and Harry were holding hands across the bed, each of them either side of Albus, who hadn’t moved since Scorpius left.

Ginny looked up when she heard the door and beckoned Scorpius over, gesturing to a spare chair beside her. He quietly perched on it, wanting to reach out and hold Albus’ hand but not wanting to make this all about him.

“Madam Abbott says he’ll wake up soon,” Ginny explained softly.

“Scorpius, do _you_ know which potion Albus is making? It seems he hasn’t told any of us.” Harry glanced around at his family who all looked blank, apart from Lily who was affronted.

“He told _me!_ I know it’s a potion which is supposed to have dragon scales in it but he’s using something else.” She looked pleased with herself for imparting this information.

“Yes, I know what it is,” Scorpius whispered after a pause. “But Albus didn’t want anybody to know, not even me.”

“But he told you?” James looked confused.

“He told me, but I don’t think he wanted to.” Scorpius sought out Ginny’s face. “We had an argument about it, yesterday, I haven’t spoken to him since-“

Ginny’s soft, understanding features turned sympathetic and kind and she gripped Scorpius’ hand. “I knew something wasn’t right.”

“Is that why he did this?” Harry stared in astonishment at his son.

Scorpius felt his breath catch in a horrible choking feeling in the back of his throat. _No_ , Albus hadn’t done this _on purpose._ Professor Jacobs had said he was over-excited, he didn’t know it was acidic, it was an accident.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Ginny said, giving Harry a sharp look. “Albus would never.”

“I don’t know,” James put in. “He really loves you, and if- ow!”

Lily had trodden firmly on his foot.

Scorpius couldn’t bear it, they thought Albus had intentionally hurt himself? And that it was because of _him?_

His anguish must have shown on his face because Ginny spoke straight away. “Stop being such a drama queen, James. I find it _very_ unlikely that Albus did this on purpose, and if it turns out he did, well, we’ll get him the help he needs.” She wrapped an arm around Scorpius’ shoulders. “But it’s not your fault, I promise.”

Scorpius sniffed but couldn’t speak. He would never forgive himself for anything he’d said if it had driven Albus to harm himself.

He felt Ginny’s arm tighten around his shoulders but he couldn’t look at her, because he knew he’d burst into tears if he did. “Come on, Scorpius, let’s go for a walk.”

She made to stand up with her arm still around him but Scorpius protested, looking at Albus. “But…”

“Not for long, we’ll just go over there,” she insisted gently and Scorpius was unable to resist, allowing her to guide him up and away from the rest of the Potters, from Albus’ still form, and over to the opposite side of the room. She held her arms out and Scorpius fell gratefully into them.

“I’m sorry,” he choked through tears and she rubbed soothing circles over his back.

“Don’t be,” Ginny insisted, not letting go. “You had an argument and now you can’t speak to him and resolve it. That’s a horrible feeling.”

“I’m sorry,” Scorpius repeated. “It’s all my fault. I did the worst possible thing I could have done.”

“What are you talking about, Scorpius?”

He took a shaky breath to steady himself somewhat; he had to make her understand what he’d done. “I _left him._ He was so low, we had an argument, but he was being so _cruel_ to himself. And I didn’t tell him to stop, and then I _left._ That’s the worst time to leave Albus on his own, I should have stayed, I should have gone back.”

He hadn’t realised he was twisting his hands together until Ginny gently took hold of them and kept them still. “Listen to me, Scorpius, nothing about this is your fault. Whatever has happened, you’re not to blame.”

Scorpius sniffed, pulling back and giving her an anguished look. It was hard to believe her.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Ginny probed gently. “I know it’s not common for you two to argue.”

Scorpius shook his head. “We _never_ argue. I don’t know what happened.”

“Start from the beginning,” Ginny said soothingly.

With a deep and probably unattractive sniff, Scorpius nodded and took Ginny’s offer of sitting down beside her on two chairs.

“Okay, so, you know how Albus is hoping to go for his potioneer’s licence?” Scorpius shook his head. “That was silly, of course you know that. Well, he’s been putting all this extra effort into his final year potions project.”

Ginny smiled knowingly. “Extra effort and extra _time?”_

Scorpius gave a tiny nod. “This project means a lot to him. And I don’t mind that! But-“

“It’s okay, I know Albus.” Ginny smiled. “He’s like his dad, they both get completely obsessed with things like this and don’t realise until it’s too late. It’s okay to feel a bit miffed though, I know I have. Did you tell him how you felt?”

It felt strange for Ginny to compare her decades-long marriage to his relationship with Albus.

“I tried to, yesterday morning. I picked a bad time, he hadn’t slept well and he’d taken Felix Felicis the night before for my project and I shouldn’t have said _anything…”_ He could feel tears threatening to build again.

“Is that when you argued?” she asked gently.

“It was _horrible,”_ Scorpius admitted tearfully. “I said… I was so _mean._ I told him to stop feeling sorry for himself, I was so insensitive!”

“Why was he feeling sorry for himself?”

Scorpius hesitated. “He thought I wouldn’t want to be his boyfriend anymore, that he was a failure and I wouldn’t have time for him once I go to Smash, that being a potioneer isn’t as valid as Healer school. And that he wouldn’t ever be good enough for his potioneering licence anyway and that I would inevitably want to break up with him so we can’t live together and-“ he choked over a sob and decided to stop there.

“Oh, Albus…” she muttered and shook her head, looking away from Scorpius. “He’s feeling very insecure by the sounds of it.”

“And I’ve made him feel _worse_ ,” Scorpius said dejectedly. “Ginny, what if he _did_ do this on purpose? It _would_ be my fault because I left him!”

She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and squeezed bracingly. “Come on, Scorpius, you know Albus. How does he usually cope when he’s feeling like this?”

Scorpius bit his lip and considered her question. “He goes running, or flying. Or potioning.”

“By himself?”

“Always, always by himself. He always works through it alone, and then he finds me when he’s feeling a bit better.”

“Just like his dad,” Ginny smiled fondly. “So, explain to me how you leaving him alone was a bad thing?”

“Because now he’s hurt and-“

“Imagine he wasn’t hurt, imagine you’d just left him to brood and then you’d come back and worked things out after he’d gone running or flying.”

“Or potioning,” Scorpius repeated. “He would have potioned this time, he even slept in the workshop last night.”

“But you gave him time and space like you knew he needed, because you know Albus.”

This seemed a very romantic way to describe Scorpius avoiding Albus because he was scared of getting his heart broken.

“You could never have guessed he’d be fast asleep in the hospital wing when you came back to fix things. I meant it, Scorpius,” Ginny said, squeezing his shoulder. “This isn’t your fault, however this has happened, it absolutely is not your fault.” She stood up and held her hand out to him. “Come on, he should be waking up soon.”

When they reached Albus’ bed again, Lily and James exchanged a look but didn’t say anything. Professor Jacobs tentatively approached, a clipboard in her hand.

“These are some of Albus’ notes,” she explained, balancing them on his bedside table. “I know he’d hate the idea of them being left unattended, so here. He can know they’re safe.”

Lily immediately peered over and started trying to read them and Ginny swatted her away. “When he wakes up, you can _ask_ ,” she said firmly.

“Scorpius,” Professor Jacobs addressed him, “I believe this is yours? You left it in the workshop, it has your results in which I’m sure you’re going to need.”

She was holding out a notebook; more precisely, the handsome, leather-bound notebook Albus had surprised him with. It contained the results from his Felix Felicis experiment and he hadn’t even realised he was missing it; he’d not had a chance to even look at that essay yet this week.

“Oh, thank you,” Scorpius said dumbly, accepting the notebook. His Felix Felicis project felt like something which had happened weeks ago.

“I’ll come back tomorrow, let you have some time with Albus,” Professor Jacobs backed away politely.

“Do we just wait for him to wake up?” Lily asked the resulting silence.

“Madam Abbott said the potion should wear off within the hour,” Harry replied, checking his watch. “He’ll wake up any minute now.”

“Brilliant, then we can ask him what the hell he was thinking,” James said in a dry voice.

“Hey, I know you’re worried about your brother, but be nice,” Harry reprimanded.

They bickered lightly, Ginny didn’t take her eyes off Albus, Lily curled up in her chair and started plaiting the front of her hair and Scorpius played with the edge of his notebook. He ran his fingers along the soft leather cover, breathing in its pleasant scent. Then he noticed something. Sticking out of the top was the edge of a piece of parchment, a different texture to the pages Scorpius knew the notebook contained. He flicked the notebook open and out fell the parchment, covered in a familiar print.

_Scorpius,_

_I’m sorry. I feel truly horrible and sorry doesn’t feel like enough. But I am. I’m sorry I said those awful things to you, they were cruel and unfair. You’ve been nothing but supportive of me from the start. All I can say is I let the stress get to me, but that’s far from a valid excuse and I hope you can bring yourself to forgive me one day._

_I’ve been thinking about you all day, wishing I was beside you and that we’d never argued, even though it was all my fault. You have your Smash interview tomorrow and I’m here planning to sleep in the potions workshop because I know you don’t want me around right now. I don’t know how to fix this, but I want to, so badly. These words don’t make up for the things I said, but I hope it can go some way to reminding you that, while I know I’ve been an awful boyfriend and nowhere near as present as I should have been, you’ve always been my priority. Ridiculous, I know, I had a funny way of showing it, didn’t I? I didn’t even tell you about my potion until today._

_I suppose I’ve just been feeling a bit scared recently, about next year. I meant it when I said that I was sure you’ll get into Smash and be wonderful in every class, because of course you will. It’s been really hard not to compare myself to you, and my insecurities got to me. I just couldn’t shake this image from my mind of you succeeding while I struggled along and you realising I was holding you back and breaking up with me. I know it’s stupid, I trust you, I trust that we love each other. But that’s where my head’s been at for longer than I want to admit. I’m sorry, I should have just told you how I was feeling._

_I’m sorry, Scorpius. I love you so much, almost more than I know what to do with. I’ve made so many mistakes and I just hope you can go some of the way to forgiving me. Nothing makes me happier than the idea of moving in with you after we graduate. I hope you still want to. I hope I haven’t completely pushed you away. This year has been so scary, all about planning for our futures and working out our next steps, but all I know is wherever life takes me next, I want you there by my side. If you want to be. I’ll always want you with me, which might be a bit much to say when we’re so young. This isn’t, I don’t know, a promise of anything. Just how I’m feeling._

_I don’t even know why I’m writing this all out in a letter, I’m not going to give this to you. I hope I can get my shit together enough to tell you all this in person when you get back. I promise I’ll try harder for you, Scorpius. I promise I’ll try to be the boy you deserve._

_I love you so much and always will_

_Albus_

Scorpius felt hot tears prick at the corner of his eyes. It was going to be okay. It was all going to be okay.

Nobody had noticed his reaction to the letter, and he discreetly tucked it away again, staring hard at the ceiling to try and keep his tears inside. The words in that letter confirmed what Scorpius needed to hear: that Albus didn’t really mean what he’d said, that he still loved Scorpius, that he still wanted them to move in together.

“He’s waking up!” Lily suddenly sat upright in her chair.

Albus’ eyelids twitched and slowly fluttered open a fraction, his face one of total confusion.

“Hi, baby,” Ginny said softly.

“Mum?” he wheezed in a raspy voice that didn’t sound like his usual morning voice. He reached out to her and she held his hand, gently hugging him as he lay down. “S’Scorpius here?”

“Oi, James is here! I left training early,” James said in mock offence.

Ginny beckoned Scorpius over and he uncertainly approached Albus, comforted by Albus’ hand weakly extending to take Scorpius’. Albus smiled, just a tiny bit. “You’re here.”

Scorpius smiled nervously back. “Yes, Albus, I’m here! We’re all here!”

“And we’re really worried about you!” Lily put in.

“And we love you,” Harry added.

“Why’m _I_ here?” Albus stared around at them all in confusion.

“Can you remember anything?” Ginny asked gently.

“Made a potion, worked it did, the sage one. All fizzy.” His face suddenly changed to one of pain. “It hurt me.”

His voice was still raspy and weak-sounding, which Scorpius assumed was because of the acid in his throat. He almost couldn’t bear to listen.

“It hurt me, ow, really hurt. All here.” Albus vaguely gestured to his torso, letting go of Scorpius’ hand in the process. “It didn’t work.”

There was a moment’s pause and Harry broke the silence. “Albus, why did you drink a potion which hurt you?”

“Thought I’d done it, didn’t think it would hurt me.” Albus shook his head.

Scorpius wanted to bury his face in Albus’ chest and cry with happiness at these words. Instead he stood, rooted to the spot and staring at his poor boyfriend.

“Thought you’d done what?” Harry continued to ask, still seeming worried.

“Done it. My potion, dragon pox remedy with no dragon.” Albus pointed to his throat. “Can I have some water?”

“Dragon pox remedy!” Lily cried in excitement as Ginny poured him a glass of water and Harry helped him sit up. Scorpius took a small step back to give Harry room to see his son.

“That’s your potions project? Dragon pox remedy with no dragon?” James sounded highly impressed. “Nice one! Apart from this whole accidentally drinking acid thing, this is not a nice one.”

Since initially waking up and asking for Scorpius, Albus hadn’t acknowledged him once. He suddenly looked aggrieved and he furrowed his brow. “Don’t tell anyone. S’a secret.”

“We won’t, darling,” Ginny assured him, sharing a glance with Harry that was filled with concern. “How are you feeling?”

“Throat hurts,” Albus wheezed. “Head hurts. Heart hurts.”

“Heart?” Harry flashed a glance in the direction of Madam Abbott’s office.

Ginny placed a calming hand on top of his. “Let’s go and let Madam Abbott know he’s awake. James, Lily, you need to come with us.” She leant over and kissed Albus’ forehead, brushing his hair back from his face and smoothing it down as best she could. “Love you, Baby Boy.”

Scorpius knew what she was doing, and James and Lily must have known too because they didn’t question why they were suddenly being asked to leave Albus’ bedside. Instead, they both gave Scorpius reassuring glances, even a confident wink in James’ case, before moving away.

Suddenly, it was just him and Albus, for the first time since their argument the day before. Neither of them spoke, just locking eyes, and it wasn’t until a small tear rolled down Albus’ cheek that anyone said anything.

“I’m sorry,” Albus said, in the smallest, saddest voice Scorpius had ever heard him use. “I’m sorry, Scorpius. Not just because I’m in hospital, I’m really sorry.”

And in an instant, Scorpius was at his side, wrapping his arms carefully around Albus’ body and letting him cry into his shoulder. It made a change, Albus being the one in tears, and Scorpius was joining him within seconds. They stayed like that, just softly crying into each other’s arms, a million unsaid words passing between them.

Albus coughed, unwilling to let go of Scorpius. “Sit down.”

Scorpius didn’t need telling twice and he perched on the edge of the bed, swinging his legs up to lie beside Albus.

“Hurts to talk,” Albus rasped.

“Good thing you wrote this, then,” Scorpius withdrew the letter and waved it in front of Albus. His eyes widened and then he smiled.

“You found that?” Albus held his hand out for the letter and Scorpius handed it over. He ran his eyes over his own words, his expression unreadable.

“I’m glad I did, Albus. Sorry. I wouldn’t have read it if I knew you didn’t want me to, but it was sort of too late when I got to that part.”

“S’okay.” Albus chuckled and then winced, massaging his throat. “I’mean it.”

Scorpius linked their hands. “I’m sorry too. I should have shown you properly how much I support what you’re doing. I was so caught up in my Smash thing that-“

“Today!” Albus interrupted. “Smash. How was it?”

Scorpius shrugged. “Not sure.”

“Bet you were amazing.” Albus squeezed his hand.

He shrugged. “I don’t know, we’ll see.” He paused. “So, are we okay?”

“Can you forgive me for being so mean to you?” Albus asked quietly, not looking at Scorpius and sounding like he was fully prepared for the answer to be no.

“Of course! If you can forgive me for not communicating properly.”

Albus’ expression lifted and he wrapped his arms around Scorpius, who did the same, embracing him in a hug sat there on the hospital wing bed. They pulled away just far enough that they were facing each other, then Albus kissed him, very softly.

“I love you,” he whispered against Scorpius’ lips. “Would kiss you more if we were in private.”

“I love you too, Albus,” Scorpius replied, their foreheads touching.

“Aw you two made up!” Lily’s cheerful voice punctuated the moment, and Scorpius looked up to see she’d taken the lead for the rest of the Potters and Madam Abbott. They untangled their arms and Scorpius thought he should probably get off Albus’ bed but they were still holding hands and he just couldn’t bring himself to.

“Leave them be, Lily,” Harry reprimanded.

“Yeah, we made up,” Albus rasped with a grin, until he dissolved into a coughing fit. Scorpius quickly handed him the glass of water again and caught Ginny’s eye, who was smiling proudly.

“How are you feeling, Albus?” Madam Abbott held a hand to his forehead and peered into his eyes.

“Like I’ve swallowed knives,” Albus replied, massaging his throat.

She moved away to consult a clipboard. “Well, the good news is that will go away. I can give you pain potion if you need it, but the best thing to do is sleep it off. Fortunately, you won’t have any trouble sleeping with the dose of willow I’ve got you on. In fact, you’ll be lucky to keep your eyes open for much longer than two hours at a time.”

Ginny had moved into the free space and began to stroke Albus’ hair absent mindedly while Madam Abbott explained Albus’ predicament.

“Will his voice go back to normal?” James put in.

“Eventually, yes, as the oesophagus heals,” Madam Abbott explained. “But I’m afraid you’re in for a long haul, Albus. I need to constantly monitor how your insides are responding to the remedies I’m giving you, you won’t be able to eat proper food for several days while you heal. I’m keeping you in for at least a week.”

“A week?” Albus protested desperately, before breaking into coughs again. “Ow,” he complained.

“No proper food?” Lily echoed incredulously.

“I have a potion which contains every nutrient Albus needs,” the nurse explained.

Scorpius ran his thumb over the back of Albus’ hand in sympathy. It was hard to watch him in so much obvious pain.

“I will arrange for your professors to give you extensions for any deadlines. You won’t be able to stay awake long enough to do much work.”

Albus looked vaguely concerned by this prospect. Scorpius assumed he didn’t want to leave his precious project for that long.

“I’ll bring you updates on WAC club!” Lily added excitedly. “You’re both official members now by the way, I’ve printed you name badges.”

“Great,” Albus exchanged looks with Scorpius.

“Thanks, Lily,” Scorpius said politely.

“We’ll come back at the weekend, if you want,” Ginny told him, glancing at Harry who nodded.

Albus nodded then caught sight of his bedside table. “Did you bring me sweets?” he said in excitement, sounding like a first year.

Madam Abbott winced and pursed her lips; she highly disapproved of sugar on her ward. “I’ll leave you to it,” she said, bustling away.

Ginny exchanged a glance with Harry. “We wouldn’t have brought them if we knew you couldn’t eat.”

Albus sighed glumly then grinned wickedly at James. “There’s Bertie Botts though, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

They ended up spending the next hour together while the Potter kids reinstated some game from their childhood, in which Albus threw Bertie Botts’ so they landed in James’ mouth; James got to choose the beans they played with, but if they missed, Lily could feed each of her brothers a bean of her choice. It was decided that Scorpius would have to eat Albus’ for him if they lost, because Albus wasn’t allowed to eat. Thankfully, James and Albus were well practised and hadn’t missed one yet.

As the game got louder and more raucous - Lily determined for her brothers to miss one and adding in more and more ridiculous rules - Harry and Ginny looked up from where they’d been browsing a copy of The Daily Prophet together.

“We should let Albus get some rest now,” Harry folded the paper over.

“Aw, Dad, I’m about to win!” Lily protested.

“One more!” James cried in a muffled voice. Muffled because he had a scarf tied around his eyes like a blindfold and it had slipped down to his mouth.

Ginny smiled fondly. “One more.”

Albus took aim, flicked his wrist and watched the bean soar into James’ mouth. James chewed proudly with his arms raised in triumph. Then a second later he doubled over, gagging.

“I swapped it when he was blindfolded. Earthworm,” Lily giggled, backing away from James who was approaching her with the half chewed bean extended in front of him. “Gross, James!”

Scorpius couldn’t stop laughing at their antics; the Potters were some of the best people he knew.

“Take good care of him, Scorp,” James clapped him on the back then turned to Albus. “Bro, don’t drink any more acid.”

Albus rolled his eyes and allowed James to hug him.

“I’ll come back tomorrow,” Lily said, straightening the remaining chocolate frogs on Albus’ bedside table. Then she left with a cheery wave.

“Bye, sweetheart,” Albus’ mum wrapped him in an embrace, and then his dad did too, both kissing their son on the cheek.

“This is for you,” Harry lay the newspaper in Albus’ lap then looked up at Scorpius. “For both of you.”

“Er, thanks, Dad,” Albus turned it over.

“It’s property listings. We circled a few we thought you might like, have a look.” He looked very pleased with himself.

Scorpius looked at the newspaper, then up at Albus who was grinning. “Thank you,” they said in unison.

“Or, you know, if you want to come home, Scorpius can move in with us too,” Ginny ruffled Albus’ hair with a wink. “What do you think, Scorp?”

“Your dad would never forgive me if you left home only to move in with us,” Harry chuckled.

“Goodbye, my loves.” Ginny hugged Albus again but this time she included Scorpius in the hug too. “We’ll see you at the weekend.”

“Bye,” Albus hugged his dad one last time then waved them off, so it was just the two of them.

“Well, I have to leave too. Visiting hours are long over,” Scorpius said morosely. The last thing he wanted now was to leave Albus and sleep in his bed alone.

Albus cast a furtive look around the darkening hospital wing. “Abbott’s not around, just sleep here.”

“I can’t! It’s against the rules,” Scorpius protested.

“Fall asleep, she can’t kick you out if you’re literally sleeping,” Albus reasoned. “Come on.”

He lifted the duvet invitingly, then a second later, Madam Abbott appeared. They both sighed, knowing they’d have to say goodbye.

“Overtime, Scorpius,” Abbott threw a bundle into Scorpius’ lap with a sly grin. He unfolded it to reveal a set of pyjamas and a toothbrush.

“Thanks,” he smiled.

Later that night, warm bodies tangled together, Albus’ dark hair tickling his nose and the familiar scent of coconut shampoo in the air, Scorpius fell asleep in absolute bliss.

* * *

Madam Abbott told Scorpius it had been a one off in the morning, and that she couldn’t let him stay with Albus every night, but he appreciated it all the same. Not being allowed to sleep in the hospital wing didn’t stop Scorpius from spending all his free time there.

“Don’t you have History of Magic club?” Albus questioned as Scorpius approached him on Wednesday evening. He still sounded as if he had a bad cough brewing, his voice raspy and rough.

“Rose is running it for me this week,” he explained, hopping up onto the bed beside his boyfriend. “She said she’ll pop in afterwards and see how you’re doing.”

“But you love History club!” Albus protested.

“I love you more.” Scorpius kissed him on the forehead. “I brought our jigsaw.”

“Brilliant, I’ve missed that.” Albus rolled his eyes. “Want to hear the worst part?”

“What?” Scorpius asked, worried what he would say.

“Abbott won’t let me work on my portfolio while I’m here. She meant it about not doing any work. Apparently not being able to stay awake for longer than an hour at a time means I’m not _well enough,”_ he complained.

Albus said this all in a casual, throwaway voice as if he couldn’t really care less and it was just mildly annoying. But Scorpius knew what he meant.

“Albus, you haven’t made your portfolio? I thought you’d done it! The deadline is Saturday!”

“I know,” Albus said shortly. “No. I haven’t done it, I was planning to work on it this week, but then…” he gestured to himself.

“But how will you find a brewers to sponsor your licence if you haven’t submitted a portfolio? It’s three days away!”

“I suppose I just can’t apply for my licence this year,” Albus said through gritted teeth. “It’s fine. Where’s the rush?”

“Al,” Scorpius pulled him into a hug, which Albus melted into instantly. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“No, really, it’s okay. I’ve thought about it: I’ll take a gap year, maybe work at the apothecary some more, maybe work on my Dragon Pox experiment some more. It’ll be good for me. We can still live together. It means I can be one hundred percent there for you during your first year of school. Ooh, I can cook every night!”

“You are the loveliest,” Scorpius kissed his cheek, “sweetest,” he kissed Albus’ nose, “most perfect,” his other cheek, “beautiful boyfriend there ever was.” Scorpius kissed him on the lips this time.

Albus showed him a crooked smile as he faintly touched the place on his cheek Scorpius had kissed.

“Speaking of your experiment, Professor Jacobs wanted me to ask you about it,” Scorpius said, as he started to scatter the jigsaw pieces. “She hasn’t touched it since the accident but she wants to know what you want doing with it.”

Albus sighed sadly. “I suppose it’s time to give it a rest. Clear that space out, let someone else use it. I have a whole year to work on it now.”

Scorpius could tell he didn’t really mean that, and given the chance, he’d be in the potions workshop right now working on his experiment further. He gave Albus a sympathetic look.

Albus noticed his expression. “It’s fine, I finished my NEWT project ages ago.”

“Good job really, the deadline to hand them in is Friday.”

“Yeah, I’ve missed enough important deadlines,” Albus rolled his eyes. “Are you almost finished with yours?”

Scorpius shrugged. “Getting there, want to see what I have so far?”

Albus nodded enthusiastically and Scorpius went to retrieve his school bag, pulling out his half finished Felix Felicis coursework. He’d got as far as analysing the results from his experiment, it was really going quite well. Albus read it with interest.

“ _Test subject A:_ that’s me!” he said excitedly, reading the essay. “That’s interesting that the Deprehensia with less than ten grams of scurvy grass didn’t pick up all of the Felix Felicis, the Ministry standard is only five grams! They should really look into this, commission some wider research.”

“It could just be a coincidence,” Scorpius shrugged modestly.

“But what if it’s not? What if you’ve found a loophole in the Quidditch league’s athletic drug testing?” Albus went back to reading the essay with excitement.

Scorpius felt himself glow with pride at Albus’ enthusiasm over his potions coursework.

“This is amazing, love.” Albus momentarily glanced up from the essay to give Scorpius a warm smile.

“So, do you want us to just clear all of your experiment away?” Scorpius asked gently after a moment.

His eyes still fixed on the essay, Albus froze. “No,” he said quietly. “I don’t know, this is hard.” He thought for a second. “Maybe, the three experiments I was about to start, the ones with the blossomberries, could be the last three I do for now? If none of them work, I’ll give it up for the school year, pick it back up after we graduate. I’ve got time now.”

“That sounds good,” Scorpius agreed.

Albus suddenly looked worried. “I don’t know how long those berries will stay fresh though, and who knows if I’ll be able to find anymore. Maybe I’ll just have to abandon it.” He grinned cheekily. “Fancy brewing me some more Felix Felicis so I can find more blossomberries?”

Scorpius thought for a second. “Why don’t I help you? You can tell me what needs doing and I can make it happen, then report back to you here.”

“Oh, Scor, I can’t ask you to do that! You have this essay to finish and everything else.”

“No, I barely have anything to do now, my interview is over, it’s just revision for exams and that’s flexible. This is perfect!” Scorpius was bouncing in excitement at his plan. “Please, Albus, I know it’ll make you happy! Let me do this for you. I can’t cook, this is all I can offer!”

Albus laughed. “This is a lot, though. It’s three individual potions which need to be monitored closely.”

“Monitored in what way?” Scorpius pulled spare parchment and a quill out of his bag and poised it, ready to make notes.

“Well,” Albus smiled fondly, “for any sudden changes in temperature, viscosity or colour, if the direction of the steam spirals changes and the most important one is looking for any signs that the moonstone and knotgrass have bound. It hasn’t happened yet, but that’s my end goal. The other stuff is just to see what sort of thing might work, and what definitely doesn’t work.”

Scorpius wrote down _temperature, viscosity, colour_ and _steam spirals, moonstone and knotgrass bound?_ before looking up at Albus expectantly. “How do I know they’ve bound?”

Albus scoffed. “Come on, you’re not _serious,_ Scor?”

He huffed, slightly offended. “Why not? I’m a NEWT Potions student too, I can follow some instructions.” He moved closer to Albus and lightly stroked his freckled cheek. “I _want_ to, to make you happy.”

Albus sighed. “Okay, fine, thank you, love.”

He gave Scorpius a detailed set of instructions for what he wanted to do with the blossomberries. He needed to prepare the berries in three different ways (dried, crushed and fermented) before adding them to some Cure for Dragon Pox base of which Albus had brewed a whole large cauldron full. Then he had to drop a moonstone into each, amongst other ingredients and instructions. They were quite complicated, Scorpius would need to read them through several times more to get his head around them, but he wanted to do this for Albus.

Stifling a yawn, Albus kept going. “If any of them start fizzing, that means the moonstone has bound with the knotgrass.” He hesitated and looked down at himself. “Usually, don’t drink it to check.”

“Fizzing means it’s worked, got it,” Scorpius scribbled this down at the bottom of his parchment.

“They probably won’t work, but at least we’ve tried,” Albus shrugged and yawned again.

“Are you ready to sleep again?” Scorpius brushed Albus’ hair from his eyes.

Albus scoffed. “I’m like a bloody newborn baby, all this napping.”

“Your body is literally healing itself from the inside, of course you need more sleep than usual.”

“I know,” Albus yawned again. “Doesn’t hurt when I’m asleep either.”

Scorpius cringed and got up. “I think you’re allowed more pain potion, if you want.” He consulted the clipboard on the end of Albus’ bed to see when he’d last had a dose of pain potion. “Yep, you can have more.”

“Yes please,” Albus said weakly.

Scorpius knew the organisation of the cabinets beside each bed. Reading and responding to dose charts for basic potions was one of his ward responsibilities, so he could give Albus his next dose of pain potion without too much trouble. It felt strange to be administering medicine to his boyfriend, rather than an anonymous second year with a migraine.

Scorpius handed Albus the measured dose, he took it and handed the cup back to Scorpius. Then he helped Albus lie down against his pillows (propped to elevate his chest and make breathing less painful) and covered him over with the crisp, white hospital duvet.

“I almost forgot!” Scorpius suddenly remembered and backed away to fetch his school bag.

Albus’ eyelids were already drooping when he returned with Gryffindor the dragon, retrieved from Albus’ bed, in one hand. The stuffed toy had a sweet smile which was poking out the top of Scorpius’ fist.

“You brought Gryffindor,” Albus murmured with a tired smile. “I’love you.”

Scorpius tucked the little toy in beside his boyfriend, who was already nodding off. “Goodnight, Albus. Love you too.” Scorpius brushed his hair from his eyes and kissed his forehead, but Albus was already asleep.

He watched Albus’ chest rise and fall as he slept peacefully. His lips were just slightly parted and his face completely calm. Albus really was beautiful, there was no denying it, with his defined features, the jawline he’d really grown into in the past year, his light smattering of freckles and - even though Scorpius couldn’t see them right now - his gorgeous green eyes.

Scorpius settled into the chair beside Albus’ bed and pulled his potions coursework towards him; it made no difference whether he did it here or in the library, and it was nice to be close to Albus.

About half an hour later, with several textbooks charmed to float in front of him, and his conclusion taking shape, Scorpius’ homework spot was interrupted.

“Hi, Scorp.” Rose dropped down into the chair on the other side of Albus’ bed and she grinned. “He was asleep when I tried to visit this morning too. I’m beginning to think he’s doing it on purpose.” She chuckled. “Anyway, how is he?”

“He’s doing okay,” Scorpius explained, putting his textbooks away. “I think he’s in more pain than he’s letting on, especially to me.”

Rose pulled a face. “Sounds like T with her shoulder.”

Scorpius looked away awkwardly. “Well, at least she’s on track to get better now.”

“You know you did her a huge favour, don’t you? She was never going to admit defeat on her own, I stopped even trying to suggest she got help.”

“I tried to stop her but Cole was…” Scorpius stopped, lost in a sudden thought.

“What?” Rose pressed.

“Cole was stalling me on _purpose_ so that Thea would get help.” Scorpius gesticulated in excitement. “Because he’d taken Felix too, it was lucky!”

Rose shrugged. “Silly thing was going to end up injuring herself permanently if she’d carried on. Thanks to you, that won’t happen.”

“It sounds much better when you say it like that,” Scorpius grinned.

“I’m serious, Scorp. Thank you for unintentionally forcing my girlfriend to see a Healer.”

He nodded awkwardly, then realised why that sentence sounded so strange to him. Not once had he ever heard Rose refer to Thea as _my girlfriend._ It just wasn’t how she talked about Thea.

“You’re welcome for unintentionally forcing your-” he said quietly then hesitated, not sure if he should draw attention to what she’d said. “Er-“

“Don’t,” Rose said with a warning look, but she was smirking to herself.

Scorpius smiled. “How was History club?”

She made a strange face. “Weird, Lily showed up for some reason.”

“Lily _Potter?”_ Scorpius asked incredulously. Lily was remarkably uninterested in History of Magic, but got by enough in her homework that she hadn’t been asked to attend the extra tuition. “Why was she there?”

She shrugged. “No idea, she came with Ruby. I didn’t even know they were friends. She was pretty quiet to be honest, which makes a change.” Rose scoffed.

Scorpius smiled to himself at the idea of Ruby bringing Lily to History of Magic club.

“Did Ruby seem okay? I know she’s been a bit stressed recently.”

Rose nodded. “She seemed fine, sort of floated in, asked where you were and told us she’d brought Lily along. She didn’t even get out her flashcards.”

“Really? That’s not like Ruby. I should check in with her.”

“I think she’s still got a bit of a crush on you,” Rose said with a wicked grin which made Scorpius blush. “Bless her, she’s such a sweetheart.”

“I hope you’re talking about me.” A voice interrupted and a glance up told them it was Thea. “Scoot over,” she said, nudging Rose to one side so she could share the chair with her.

“Hi, Thea. How was training?” Scorpius couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous, seeing the two of them sitting so close together when his boyfriend was passed out between them.

Rose was giving Scorpius hurried signals to stop talking but he noticed too late.

“I have no Keeper and only two Chasers,” Thea sighed. “Our chances of making the final just halved.”

“Come on, that’s not true!” Scorpius said in what he hoped was a jolly, encouraging voice.

“It is, it’s a disaster. We don’t have a reserve Chaser to take my place, so I’ve got Jimmy Bones playing as Chaser and the reserve Seeker on for him. Cole played Keeper for today, just to practise, but we can’t go into the next game with only one Beater and I don’t know if Albus will be better by then.” She gazed at his sleeping form sadly.

“That sounds stressful, I’m sorry,” Scorpius offered uncertainly.

“Not playing sucks,” she grumbled, holding her arm out awkwardly and pointing to her shoulder. “But the support is helping.”

She pulled back the neckline of her top to reveal her new bandage. It was faintly glowing and looked as if it was made of tiny strings of fireflies; Scorpius knew it was delivering healing and pain relief charms on a constant cycle. It was attached to her shoulder with magic, making it look as if it were part of her skin. Scorpius stared at it in amazement; he’d only ever read about these types of brace.

“I start my proper treatment next week, but I have to Floo to St Mungo’s.” Thea looked annoyed at the prospect. “I hate hospitals.”

Scorpius was filled with a million questions. “Will you be having Intensive Charm Therapy?”

Thea looked uninterested. “Oh, is that what ICT stands for? Everyone keeps going on about it, but nobody’s bothered to explain what they’re actually going to do to me.”

“Intensive Charm Therapy is where they give you a series of two or three very similar charms over and over again, all in quick succession. You barely feel it. It does things like relax and contract muscles to prevent spasming,” Scorpius paraphrased from his textbook.

“Sounds okay,” Rose reasoned, poking Thea in the side.

“Well, my first session is next Friday. I’ll let you know.” Thea poked her back. “Maybe you can give me some more of that Felix Felicis, Scorp.”

Scorpius blanched. “I’m never brewing Felix Felicis again. It caused so much trouble.”

“No, it didn’t. I needed to be honest with myself,” Thea sighed. “This is the right thing to do. The Harpies will still be around next year, I’ll just have to go to the general tryouts. I can’t be scouted at a Hogwarts game now, but that’s okay.” She nodded determinedly.

“S’what my mum did,” Albus suddenly spoke up groggily.

“Al, you’re awake!” Scorpius leant forward and smoothed his duvet down. “How long have you been awake?”

“Few minutes,” he rolled onto his back. “You guys aren’t quiet, like, at all.”

“Oops, sorry,” Scorpius apologised as he helped Albus manoeuvre himself into a seated position, propping his pillows up behind him. He poured him a glass of water and Albus downed it in one.

“Nice to see you all,” he smiled weakly around at them.

“How are you feeling?” Thea approached him and touched his shoulder sympathetically.

“Alright,” Albus shifted. “Sorry I couldn’t play Keeper tonight.”

Thea shook her head. “Don’t be silly, you need to get better.”

“You _both_ do,” Rose added pointedly.

“What were you saying before, Albus?” Scorpius interrupted when he noticed Thea narrow her eyes at Rose in annoyance. “About your mum?”

“Oh,” Albus nodded. “Yeah, my mum wasn’t scouted by the Harpies. She just went to the tryouts.”

Thea’s expression cleared. Scorpius smiled at his boyfriend; it had been the perfect thing to say to make Thea feel better. Albus looked pretty pleased with himself too.

“Want to help us finish this jigsaw?” he offered, looking to Scorpius for approval. They’d never shared their jigsaw with anyone else before, but Scorpius thought it was a great idea and he nodded happily.

It was sweet and companionable, the three of them crowded around Albus and searching for the right pieces. It certainly made things much quicker with two extra people.

“Scorp chose this puzzle, I’m right, aren’t I?” Rose asked as she completed the petal of a tulip with a flourish.

“How did you work that one out?” Albus asked in mock surprise.

“You’re too much of a gay disaster,” she commented, ruffling Albus’ hair.

“What does that even mean?” Albus laughed. “Know what, don’t even tell me. I’m okay not knowing.”

“I think this is part of your geranium,” Thea interrupted, handing Albus a jigsaw piece she’d found.

Albus inspected it and then held it up to Scorpius’ forehead. “This is the colour Scor’s hair’s gonna be.”

Scorpius smiled and took the piece, looking at the light pink colour. “I said _maybe_.”

“You want pink hair? Cool,” Rose commented.

“You said after your interview,” Albus started to play with a strand of Scorpius’ hair. “And it’s after your interview now.”

“I did, and it is.” Scorpius grinned. “It would be fun.”

“Yes! Do it, do it!” Thea said, enthusiastic as ever.

“If you want to,” Albus added hurriedly, still twirling a piece of Scorpius’ hair around his fingertip.

“Sorry to break this party up, but visiting hours have been over for almost an hour.” Madam Abbott appeared at the end of Albus’ bed, on which they were all gathered. “Albus needs to sleep.”

Albus rolled his eyes. “All I do is sleep.” But he was stifling a yawn into the back of his hand.

“See you later, Albus,” Rose hopped off his bed.

“Sleep well,” Thea copied her and they linked hands. “We’ll go ahead, Scorp.” She winked and Rose laughed as they left the hospital wing hand in hand.

“Goodnight, love,” Albus said sadly. “Wish I was coming with you.”

“I’ll miss you tonight,” Scorpius agreed, holding both of Albus’ hands in his. “I’ll come back tomorrow morning, promise.”

He pressed his lips to Albus’ in a soft kiss, but Albus responded hungrily, catching Scorpius‘ bottom lip between his teeth. Scorpius’ fingertips grazed Albus’ cheekbone as their lips worked together, his other hand coming to rest at the back of Albus’ neck. His fingers snaked into Albus’ hair, messy from his previous sleep, gently tilting Albus’ head to mirror his own as their kiss deepened.

It was hard to say goodbye that night, but Scorpius eventually pulled himself away with reluctance, gave Albus one last kiss on his cheek and waved from the doorway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No cliffhanger this time!😂thanks so much for reading, thank you to everyone who took the time to comment on the last chapter, I’m so grateful for them all! (And I promise I’ll reply to comments soon, didn’t get round to it before uploading this week)  
> Thanks as always to Marina and Beks for the editing help❤️  
> Tumblr: littlerose13writes  
> Twitter: @scrupiusmalfoy


	10. Strange Taste

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thea receives awaited news, Scorpius is hit by how clever his potion prodigy boyfriend really is, Albus is bored of the hospital wing.

The next morning, Scorpius had an early breakfast so he would have time to stop in and see Albus before Transfiguration. Despite not being able to train anymore, Thea was still in the habit of having breakfast early too and she was sat alone when Scorpius arrived. Her expression lit up when she saw him. 

“Morning, Scorp!” She grinned then narrowed her eyes when she saw Scorpius’ smirk. “What?” 

“Had a chat with Rose yesterday,” he began, falling into the seat opposite her. “She said something rather interesting.” 

“Oh?” Thea sounded nonchalant. “What did she say?” 

“Something about you being her girlfriend.” 

Thea smirked too. “Yeah, we talked. I took your advice.” 

“Yay,” Scorpius did a mini celebration dance in his seat which made Thea laugh just as the post started to arrive. A small, grey owl came hurtling in their direction and immediately began to hop about in front of Scorpius, a letter tied to its leg which clearly read  _ Thea.  _ “You silly thing, I’m not Thea.” Scorpius tickled the little owl and it burrowed into his hand. 

“Sorry, she’s a bit useless.” Thea laughed and reached over to grab the owl. “It’s from my parents, weird, it was my turn to write to them.” 

“You wrote to your parents on Sunday, remember?” Scorpius felt a sinking feeling he was coming to associate with the repercussions of his Felix Felicis experiment. “Can’t you remember?” 

Thea thought for a second. “That’s right, I did!” She suddenly blanched. “Oh Merlin, I was high as a Firebolt. What did I say to them?” She scrabbled to open the envelope, her expression changing from one of worry, to amusement, and then to shock. 

“Thea? What is it?”

Thea quickly placed the letter on the table and went back to the envelope, reaching inside it and removing what looked like a second letter. She held it close to her chest and closed her eyes for a second. 

“Scorp, I’m sorry, I have to go. Say good morning to Albus for me, I’ll see you in Transfiguration. Or not, my parents are coming.” Thea rose from the table and left in one fluid motion.

* * *

“And she just left?” Albus straightened his hospital blanket and frowned.

“Yes, it was the strangest thing. She got a letter from her parents and went rushing off. I just hope nothing bad has happened.”

Albus frowned. “I didn’t think of that, it could have been bad news. I hope not, Thea’s had enough to deal with. I still can’t believe she has Chaser’s Shoulder.” 

Albus had been consistently expressing his disbelief at Thea having Chaser’s Shoulder since Scorpius had told him all about it the day before. 

“You know her and Rose are official girlfriends now?”

Albus looked at Scorpius like he was mad. “Scor, they’ve been girlfriends for ages.”

“But not  _ officially,  _ you know their weird thing. Now they’re actually girlfriends, like you and me.”

“We  _ are  _ pretty great girlfriends,” Albus laughed, taking Scorpius’ hand. 

“You seem like you’re feeling a bit better,” Scorpius stroked the back of his hand with his thumb. “You sound better.” 

“The pain’s less, definitely. I didn’t sleep well though.” He pulled a face. “Woke up every few hours, the second time I was so delirious I was convinced I was in your bedroom at Malfoy Manor. That windowsill was your special bookshelf.” He pointed up at it.

“That’s the pain potion,” Scorpius nodded. 

“Will you want a special bookshelf when we have our own place?” Albus smiled sweetly.

“I hadn’t thought.” Scorpius hopped up onto the bed beside him. “That would be nice. We could share it, both put our favourite books there.” 

“I’ll start choosing my favourite editions of Martin Miggs now,” Albus laughed. “Here, pass me that newspaper Dad left.”

Scorpius leant over and retrieved the paper, unfolding it to the property listings, some of which had inked circles around them. “They’re all in London,” he noticed.

“Yeah, I told Dad that’s where we wanted to live, so you can be close to Smash,” Albus explained like it was obvious, not looking up from the paper. 

“What about you, though?”

“Well, I’ll be at the apothecary, also in London,” Albus shrugged. “And I can apparate to wherever after that.” 

“That doesn’t seem fair. I might not even get into Smash.”

Albus threw him a look. “Yes you will. But we can look at other places if you want.” 

“Let’s wait to hear if I’m in.” Scorpius glanced at the newspaper. “Ooh this one has a pool!” 

“It’s in Brighton and the rent is two thousand galleons a month,” Albus laughed, peering over Scorpius’ shoulder. “Maybe set your sights a little lower, we won’t have room for peacocks.” 

“Just one peacock?” Scorpius grinned and Albus shook his head. “Maybe a chicken? One tiny little duckling? A budgie?” 

“I’ll buy you a budgie,” Albus laughed, “but you have to name it after me.” 

“Won’t that get confusing? Perhaps I’ll name it after Hector instead.” 

“Oh yes, Hector. How are things with the two of you?” 

Scorpius pulled a face. “Not great actually. You see, he heard I was planning to move in with this really cute potioneer I know and he suddenly turned all jealous. He should be jealous too, I really like this guy.” As he spoke, he moved closer to Albus until they were almost nose to nose. 

“This guy really likes you too,” Albus whispered, closing the gap and kissing him.

Scorpius grinned into the kiss before reluctantly pulling away. “I have to go to Transfiguration. I’ll come by after the prefect meeting to see you again!”

“I’ll miss you,” Albus said sadly.

“I’ll miss you too.” Scorpius pressed one last kiss to his lips and got up from the bed. “Have a restful and healing day, Albus. I love you.”

“Love you too,” Albus waved gloomily as Scorpius gathered his things and left the hospital wing. “Let me know if Thea’s okay!”

Scorpius nodded and set off for Transfiguration, realising that he was going to have to rush if he wanted to be on time (which he did). 

With seconds to spare, Scorpius arrived to the classroom and he was so distracted by getting himself together that he didn’t notice until a good ten minutes into the lesson that Thea wasn’t there. He started to worry that something bad  _ had  _ happened to keep her out of class. Surely her parents wouldn’t have come all the way to school unless it was a big deal? He just hoped it was some kind of good big deal. 

Scorpius didn’t have any free time to dwell on Thea’s disappearance until much later, when his final period Charms class ended and she still was nowhere to be seen. They had the prefect meeting that night so Scorpius hoped she would return soon. Not feeling particularly hungry for any dinner, Scorpius considered trying to see Albus. It wasn’t visiting hours at all, but Madam Abbott might let him in. Instead, another thought came to him and he decided to pull the instructions Albus had given him out of his bag and start working on his Potions for him. It would make Albus happy if he could bring him news of how they were going tonight; he’d been missing it for sure. 

The seventh year Potions workshop was almost completely empty, the imminent due date meaning everyone had finished their experiment. Only Albus’ elaborate set up was still in tact: three small cauldrons, one large and gently smoking cauldron which must have contained the potion base, several crystal phials filled with various ingredients (Scorpius eyed the sage with distaste remembering how much it had hurt Albus), a potted knotgrass plant, a glass jar full of glittering moonstones and the bunch of purple blossomberries. Scorpius just stopped for a second to take it all in before consulting the instructions. 

_ Prepare blossomberries: five berries dehydration charm, five berries squeezed, five berries soak in murtlap essence, add fermenting culture.  _

_ Combine knotgrass with dried berries until ready. _

Scorpius stopped reading and paused, confused. He racked his brains to think of an obvious way to combine the knotgrass with the dried berries, but nothing seemed to come to him. Everything he’d ever been taught about potioning required some kind of liquid to combine any two ingredients, wasn’t that common knowledge? And how did he know when the berries were  _ ready? _ What was he missing here?

He distracted his brain from worrying about this by working on preparing the berries, plucking them from the leaves and counting five each into separate containers. As he was measuring out the murtlap essence, it really dawned on him that he didn’t know what he was doing here. He was a NEWT Potions student yes, but he was used to following clear cut instructions and following them precisely. This was  _ real  _ potioneering, based on intuition Scorpius wasn’t sure he had, but Albus had in abundance. 

Was this the sort of thing he could look up in a textbook? Somehow, Scorpius doubted it. Despite these doubts, when the berries were all prepared, he selected some books from the shelf in the corner and settled in to look for something useful. 

Forty-five minutes later, and close to the start time of the prefect meeting, Scorpius was getting increasingly frustrated that nothing was helping. He’d tried a few small things (wrapping the berries in strands of knotgrass, rubbing the knotgrass to try and release some liquid) but he was scared to do anything too drastic in case he ruined the berries; there weren’t any spare. Nothing in any of the textbooks even  _ referred  _ to what he was trying to do, and Scorpius felt an overwhelming sense of defeat. All he could do was go back to Albus and ask for more guidance, but he couldn’t help but feel like he’d failed his boyfriend. 

He grumbled under his breath to himself, feeling annoyance and self-doubt creep into his heart and trying to talk himself out of it. He cleared away Albus’ experiment and left the workshop with a resigned sigh, realising he didn’t have long to make it to the meeting. It wasn’t even a certainty that Thea would show up, so Scorpius needed to be on time. 

Thankfully, Thea was already there when he arrived and she gave him a bit of a sheepish grin. “I suppose you’re wondering where I’ve been all day.” 

“Just a bit,” Scorpius smiled wearily, taking the half stack of parchment she offered him and starting to distribute the pieces around the room. 

“My parents came up here, to talk about my treatment plan with Madam Abbott and a Healer from St Mungo’s. They had some news for me.” She had the tiniest of smirks on her otherwise expressionless face. 

“Thea? Has something happened?” Scorpius abandoned his stack of parchment and crossed the room to stand nearer to her. “With the Harpies?” 

“They won against Pride at the weekend,” she said nonchalantly, going to sweep away.

Scorpius followed her and tugged on her arm. “Thea! Tell me!” 

“Later,” she said firmly, but that smirk was still present. 

Thea didn’t give Scorpius much opportunity to ask again for the rest of the meeting, something she was definitely doing on purpose. He tried to get her in conversation several times, but things kept coming up and it wasn’t until the end of the meeting that he managed to pin her down for longer than five seconds. 

“Are you ever going to tell me what’s happened?” Scorpius asked for the third time that evening.

“Yes, promise, but I want to tell Albus as well. Can I come with you?” 

“Of course!” Scorpius smiled when she linked arms with him and they made the walk to the hospital wing. The whole way there, Scorpius tried to guess what her parents had said, his suggestions getting wilder and wilder.

“They came to tell you that you’ve actually been the son of Voldemort this whole time.”

Thea snorted. “I’d forgotten about that! Merlin, imagine if you  _ were.  _ Like, this whole time you’d been Voldy’s kid but you were just really mellow about it. People really were stupid to believe that.” 

When they arrived at the hospital wing, it was to find Albus sat up in bed with his glasses on, reading a book. He looked up when they entered and smiled, folding the corner of his page over and pushing his glasses up onto his head so they held his fringe back. Albus always looked so different without his signature messy hair falling into his eyes; older somehow, more handsome.

“Thea has some news,” Scorpius explained, hopping onto the bed next to Albus and kissing him on the cheek. 

“What?” Albus turned to her expectantly. “Is everything okay?”

Thea just smiled and handed Albus a letter from her robes pocket. She gestured for him to open it and he did so, spreading it between himself and Scorpius to read. The letter was dated three weeks ago and Scorpius didn’t even need to read the whole thing, one line stood out:

_ We were impressed with your ability and wish to offer you the opportunity to trial with our development team.  _

He and Albus reacted at the same time. 

“You got a tryout!” 

“Wow, Theatrical!” 

Thea smiled proudly. “They must have been at one of the games. But they sent the letter home for some reason instead of to school, I wasn’t expecting them to do that. My parents didn’t know what it was, they just sent it on with their last reply to me.” She glanced at Scorpius. “They totally knew something was up with me when I wrote that letter by the way, they thought I might have been drunk, the way I was going on about how sorry I was for not telling them about my shoulder sooner.”

“But how will this work with your shoulder?” Albus interrupted.

“My parents came to talk about my treatment, so we discussed it. Of course we need to tell the Harpies, they might retract the offer, in fact they probably will. It won’t stop me from trying out next year.” She looked thrilled. 

Scorpius understood. It didn’t matter to Thea that she couldn’t accept the offer to trial with the development team, because getting the offer was enough. Her achievements had been recognised. 

“Aren’t you just having the best day!” Scorpius beamed.

“What does Rose think?” Albus cleared his throat and reached for the water on his bedside table. He took a sip. “Sorry, what does  _ your girlfriend  _ think?” 

Thea gave him a cool look. “She’s thrilled, thanks.” She looked at Scorpius. “You’re such a gossip.” 

Scorpius opened his mouth to protest her statement but realised he didn’t have much of a defence and closed it again, smirking to himself. 

“On that note, I’m late to meet  _ my girlfriend _ ,” Thea said pointedly. She reached over and pulled Albus into a hug. “Hurry up and get better, we miss you.” 

“Doing my best.” Albus deadpanned with an unenthusiastic celebratory fist pump. 

“Love you both, see you later, Scorp!” She walked backwards and waved.

“Well done again, T!” He waved back and turned to Albus with a pleased smile. “Isn’t that great news? I’m thrilled for her.” 

“She deserves it,” Albus nodded and they both lapsed into quiet thought. “How did the experiment go today? Any developments?” Albus suddenly asked expectantly. 

Scorpius hesitated, not wanting to disappoint him. He just couldn’t tell Albus he hadn’t been able to start much yet, he was already so deflated about the whole thing. “No developments yet, I just set it up today. I’ll look again tomorrow.” 

“Okay,” Albus nodded. “Have I mentioned how much I love you for doing this for me? And, you know, just anyway, I love you this much anyway.” 

“Time for your dinner,” Madam Abbott interrupted the moment and Albus pulled a disgusted face.

“Don’t call it that, it has no right to call itself  _ dinner.”  _ He sighed and accepted the potion flask she handed him. Scorpius knew it contained a concentrated amount of the nutrients Albus wasn’t getting from food. 

“Maybe you’ll like this one more, it’s strawberry flavour. Enjoy!” She gave him a cheery wave and bustled away. 

“Strawberry flavour? You poor thing.” Scorpius looked between Albus and the potion sympathetically. “When will you be able to eat again?” 

Albus had brought the flask to his lips but lowered it to answer his question. “Hopefully by the weekend.” He looked back at the potion. “Oh Merlin, let’s get this over with.”

He took an experimental sip, shrugged then gulped some more.

“How is it?” As Scorpius asked, his stomach gave an almighty growl and he realised he’d missed eating any dinner himself.

“Hungry?” Albus chuckled. “Here, try some. It’s way better than the vanilla.” 

Scorpius took a sip, pulled a face and cringed. 

“I should have warned you it’s sugar free,” Albus laughed. “There’re chocolate frogs behind you.” 

“Love you.” Scorpius kissed him on the cheek, turned around and retrieved a chocolate frog. “But now I feel terrible eating this in front of you.”

Albus leaned forward conspiratorially. “I have an idea. Why don’t you eat it, then immediately snog me? I get to taste it too that way.” 

“That’s sort of disgusting,” Scorpius wrinkled his nose. “I’m in.”

Really they were blessed Madam Abbott was so fond of them both. She wouldn’t have let any of her other patients draw the curtains around their bed just to have a lengthy snogging session.

* * *

Scorpius returned to Albus’ potions on Friday with a new determination. He would find a way to succeed today, and if he didn’t, he’d admit defeat and go and ask Albus for help.

The first thing he noticed when he approached the set up was that the three containers of blossomberries were all glowing brightly and he remembered it was a full moon tonight. Lily and Ruby were right, they did glow, and Scorpius could imagine they would be hard to miss in the forest like this. Maybe the glowing would make a difference and he’d be more successful this time. 

Scorpius looked around helplessly, wondering where to begin and trying to recall everything he knew about knotgrass. He could hear faint voices floating through the open door and, when he recognised who it was, had an idea. 

In the workshop next door - where WAC met - Lily, Finley and Ruby were sat around a desk, looking in awe at a branch of glowing blossomberries. From the way she was holding a cloth triumphantly, it looked like Lily had just dramatically revealed them to her friends. 

“Wow, they really do glow on full moon,” Finley breathed.

“We told you!” Lily nudged his side.

“What are we going to do with them next?” Ruby asked curiously. 

Feeling like he’d been standing there for too long, Scorpius cleared his throat and stepped further into the room. “Hi, everyone.” 

“Oh hi, Scorp!” Lily smiled. “Are you okay?”

“Kind of,” he looked straight at Finley. “I think I need your help, Finley.”

A short while later, Finley was examining Albus’ instructions and muttering to himself. Lily was at his side, a bunch of blossomberries in one hand and Finley’s shoulder in the other. Scorpius smiled gratefully and caught Ruby’s eye. She immediately blushed and he wandered over to stand with her. 

“How are you?” Scorpius asked her quietly. 

A tiny smile crossed Ruby’s lips and she began to twirl the tips of her ponytail around her fingers. “Yeah, I’m okay. First exam is in one week, Charms, but I feel alright about it.” 

“You’re going to be brilliant, Ruby,” Scorpius told her honestly. 

“I’ve been revising with Lily and Poppy, using my flashcards. We test each other, it’s actually quite fun.” Ruby smiled and met Scorpius’ eyes.

“Ruby, I’m so-“ He gasped as she grabbed him around the middle in an unexpected hug. “Oh.” 

“Thank you, Scorpius,” she breathed while he uncertainly patted her hair. “Thank you, for listening to me, for helping me, for making this happen.” She released him with a grin. 

“No, I barely did anything. This was all  _ you,  _ Ruby. You made friends by being you.” 

Ruby beamed. “I’m sleeping better too, which is helping with the anxiety.” She looked behind her then turned back to Scorpius, leaning in to whisper. “I haven’t had another panic attack.” 

“That’s amazing, Ruby,” Scorpius said in a hushed voice. “I’m so happy for you.”

She flicked her ponytail over her shoulder and smiled nervously. “How’s Albus doing? Lily told me what happened, that must have been so scary.” 

Scorpius shuddered. “It was. He’s getting better though and he’ll be out of the hospital wing soon.” 

“Okay, I think I know what to do!” Finley exclaimed, gaining their attention. 

* * *

“Happy Saturday.” Scorpius swooped in to kiss Albus’ cheek then he set a small bunch of lavender he’d picked on the bedside table, next to a card from the students Albus tutored in Astronomy. “How are you feeling?”

“The same,” Albus sighed and sipped his water. His voice almost sounded normal again, if not a bit huskier than before. “Still can’t eat. Bored of being here now. Did you bring the book?”

Scorpius nodded and reached into his school bag. “The thing is, the others got a bit excited when I said I was bringing you a book to read. They all insisted I give you copies of their favourite books.” He presented Albus with a stack of mismatched books, donated by their friends.

“ _ Smitten Sorceress: Persuasive Potions by Esmeralda Sweetwater _ ,” Albus read the top title incredulously. “Was this from Immy?” 

“Well it wasn’t Thea, was it,” Scorpius snorted. 

“ _ Bellarina had always dreamed of a handsome, mysterious wizard who would one day come to rescue her from her trapped life as an apothecary salesgirl. When she is entrusted to deliver a special order directly to a customer’s home, she meets the elusive Storm Chase Grey, who is far from what he seems.”  _ Albus burst out laughing. “Brilliant, I’ll read that one first. How are the experiments looking?”

Scorpius climbed onto the bed beside Albus. “Er, I sort of have a confession to make.”

Albus looked troubled. “What? What is it?” 

“Nothing bad! It’s a good confession.” Scorpius absent mindedly started to trace circles over the back of Albus’ hand. “I was having a bit of trouble setting the experiments up, it was harder than you made it out to be. Sorry, I didn’t want to tell you before.” 

Albus pulled a face. “I’m sorry, I should have given you better instructions. Which part are you having trouble with?” 

“No, I  _ was  _ having trouble. I’m not anymore. I had some help.”

“You asked for help?” Albus blinked at him.

“Yes! Just about the knotgrass and dried berries thing, because that was  _ hard  _ and I couldn’t work out how to do it without liquid.” Scorpius paused when Albus opened his mouth to presumably tell him how. “But it’s done now.” 

“Did Professor Jacobs help? You could have just asked me.” Albus looked a bit put out and Scorpius started to worry that he’d done the wrong thing.

“No, Finley knew how, so he helped me set that one up,” Scorpius said in a small voice. 

Albus’ anxious expression relaxed. “Oh, Finley helped. Yeah, that makes sense, we talked about it when I was helping with the lacewing plums.”

“You don’t mind I asked him for help?” Scorpius asked tentatively.

“No, I don’t mind. So they’re all three set up now?” Albus asked and Scorpius nodded. “How are they looking?” 

“Nothing much was different this morning. The fermented one looked a bit paler, that was about it.”

“Paler? Could be the sugars in the berry being consumed by the fermented culture,” Albus mused.

Scorpius chuckled. “That’s exactly what Finley said.” 

“He’s  _ good,”  _ Albus looked impressed. “Has he been helping you a lot?” 

“Just a little bit, here and there.” Scorpius shrugged and leant his head to rest on Albus’ shoulder for a second. 

Albus turned to kiss his hair and sighed. “I keep thinking about what today is.” 

“Don’t, don’t think about it,” Scorpius kissed him lightly on the shoulder. “We’ve been over this.”

Today was the deadline for sponsorship applications to study for a potioneering licence. An application Albus wasn’t able to submit as he’d once planned. 

“Hey,” Albus suddenly brightened up and picked Imogen’s book back up. “If I go and work at the apothecary again, maybe I’ll find my own Storm Chase Grey.” 

Scorpius winced. “No thanks, he sounds intimidating. I’d fight for you, but I’d rather not. Storm Chase Grey sounds like the name of someone who’d have abs.” 

Albus poked him lightly in the ribs. “Will you be my Storm Chase Grey at our next Kinky Jigsaw Night?” 

Scorpius spluttered. “Who even  _ is  _ Storm Chase Grey?”

Albus silenced his question by pulling him into a hug and burying his face into the crook of Scorpius’ neck, laughing and sighing all at the same time. 

* * *

Throughout that week, with Finley’s help, Scorpius was able to monitor the experiments and report back each day to Albus. The fermented berries were looking promising, whereas the dried berries seemed to have completely killed the potion. Albus found this fascinating when Scorpius came to tell him after History of Magic club on Wednesday.

“I think the juice of the berries is the part which glows, so it makes sense that drying them out takes that power away,” he mused quietly. “What does Finley think?”

Scorpius chuckled. “I really should just start bringing him with me to talk to you about it.” 

“If you want,” Albus shrugged nonchalantly. “Hey, guess what? I ate real food today!” 

“I’ve never been prouder of you,” Scorpius laughed and placed his school bag down on the floor, taking his usual position hopped up on the bed beside Albus. “What did you eat?” 

Albus hesitated. “Dry toast,” he whispered, looking down at his lap. 

“This will cheer you up!” Scorpius reached into his pocket, withdrew two badges and checked them quickly. “Lily gave me these at History club.”

“Lily was at History club?” Albus looked confused.

Scorpius nodded. “She comes with Ruby now, they’re friends.” 

“That’s… the loveliest thing I’ve heard this week.” Albus smiled to himself. “My sister really is a good bean.”

“Well she made you this.” Scorpius handed him a badge. 

He stared at it in amusement. “ _ W.A.C Member, Albus Potter, Senior Potioneer.”  _ To Scorpius’ complete surprise, his eyes welled up with tears at the badge. He sniffed hard and brought his hand to his mouth. 

Scorpius reached for his face and gently ran his thumbs over Albus’ cheekbones. “Albus? What is it?” 

“Sorry,” Albus shook his head sharply and sniffed again. “I’ve been so emotional this week. It’s just, she called me a  _ Potioneer _ and I’m not going to be one and I’m still not okay about it.” 

“Albus,” Scorpius said very quietly, “it’s okay to cry about that, you know. It’s really okay to cry.” He held his arms out and Albus fell into them, softly sobbing into Scorpius’ chest while Scorpius stroked his hair and his back. “Of course you’re still going to be a Potioneer, it’s just going to take a bit longer than you expected, doesn’t mean it isn’t going to happen. You’re allowed to be as disappointed as you want, but don’t give up.”

Albus pulled away and Scorpius cupped his chin with one hand, gently wiping his tears away with his thumb. Albus sniffed hard and smiled. “What does yours say?” 

Scorpius laughed. “ _ W.A.C Member, Scoopius Malfoy,”  _ he looked up from the badge, “she spelt my name wrong.  _ Scoopius Malfoy, Research Analyst.” _

“ _ Scoopius? _ ” Albus snorted as Scorpius attached the badge to the front of his robes. 

“I read some textbooks one time and now I’m a  _ Research Analyst.”  _

“No, you’re not. Scoopius is.” Albus had cheered up considerably. “That’s quite the accolade though, you should tell Smash.” 

“Too late now, my interview is over, the Quaffle’s in their hoop.” Scorpius shrugged. 

“When will you hear back?”

“Hopefully this week, maybe next. I’m not sure I’m experienced enough though, so many of the other candidates were older. And my presentation was a bit of a mess.”

Albus was fixing Scorpius with a hard look; they’d been over the disaster that had been his presentation already and Albus was convinced he was exaggerating and being overly modest. Scorpius wasn’t so sure.

“You were clearly the best one there and they’d be mad not to take you,” Albus said airily. “Actually, I’ve just had an idea.” He settled back against his pillows expectantly. “Why don’t you read me your presentation now?” 

Scorpius grinned and leaned forward, pinning Albus’ WAC badge to his pyjamas. “Okay,  _ Senior Potioneer,  _ get ready for the most unnecessarily detailed presentation on blood maledictions ever.” 

He cleared his throat and fiddled with his fingers, because he knew the presentation off by heart and didn’t need notes in his hands. Albus was watching him with genuine interest as Scorpius began to speak the familiar words, and he settled back in content as Scorpius spoke. 

“Albus!” The doors to the hospital wing burst open and Scorpius jumped in alarm, both he and Albus looking up to see who the intruder was. “Albus!” 

It was Finley Boot, who now had every eye on him and a sudden regretful expression on his face as Madam Abbott bustled over.

“Hello, dear, can I help you? Are you ill? Have you had an accident?” she said in a dry tone. 

“No, I, er, came to visit Albus. It’s important.” Finley grinned sheepishly and pushed his glasses up his nose with one finger. 

“Yes, I’d gathered as much after that entrance. Go ahead, dear.” She pointed to Albus’ bed where he and Scorpius were both staring at Finley in confusion. He nodded and ducked away, shuffling towards them, his expression lighting up again.  

“Albus! And Scorpius, hello. Sorry to disturb you, but...” he shuffled his feet and then took his hand out from inside his robes. In it was a small potion flask. “I need to show you this.”

He held the flask out and Albus and Scorpius both leaned forward to peer into it. Inside was a pale lavender coloured potion: the fermented berries experiment. 

“It’s the potion,” Scorpius said, not taking his eyes off the bubbles at the surface.

Albus sat bolt upright and peered down into the flask with intrigue. He looked up at Finley, who had an apprehensive expression on his face. 

“Well?” Finley said.

“That’s not…” Albus stared in amazement between Scorpius, Finley and the potion. “It’s never, it  _ can’t  _ be?”

Scorpius looked from Albus to Finley, something he didn’t quite follow passing between them. 

Finley nodded, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “I was down there stirring the lacewing plums, and I checked in on it, I hope you don’t mind. This is the palest it’s been, is this what you meant by fizzing?”

_ Fizzing.  _

Albus took the flask from Finley’s hands and stared into its depths, watching tiny bubbles rise to the surface over and over again. He held it up to his ear to listen to the sound. He swirled the flask around a few times and watched the contents settle. Then a wide smile spread across his face which made Scorpius’ heart rate pick up considerably. 

“This is it,” he breathed. “It’s bound, the moonstone and knotgrass have bound, that’s what’s causing the bubbles. They’ve bound together and there are no dragon scales in this!” 

“Does that mean you’ve done it?” Scorpius asked in excitement. 

“It means  _ we’ve  _ done it!” Albus looked close to tears, his green eyes wider than Scorpius had ever seen them before. 

“No! This was all you!” Finley protested. “It’s your research and hard work. And you’ve done it!” 

“You’re amazing!” Scorpius looped his arm around Albus’ waist and kissed his cheek proudly. 

“Couldn’t have finished it without you, though, could I?” Albus sounded weak, still staring at the potion in amazement. “I have to tell Professor Jacobs! I can’t believe this has worked!” He started struggling to get out of bed, handing Scorpius the potion flask while he detangled his feet from his blankets.

“Wait, Albus, you haven’t been discharged yet, you can’t go rushing off and-“

As he spoke, Albus stood up and instantly grabbed hold of the bed frame to steady himself, a woozy expression on his face. Scorpius jumped up, thrust the flask at Finley and wrapped an arm around Albus’ swaying figure, propping him up. 

“Stood up too quickly,” Albus muttered glumly, leaning his head on Scorpius’ shoulder. 

Scorpius manoeuvred him back towards the bed and sat him down. Finley watched the whole exchange, fiddling with his glasses.

“I could go and get Professor Jacobs, if you want?” he offered. “She could come here?”

“I think that’s a good idea, Finley.” Scorpius didn’t take his eyes off Albus, trying to ascertain if he was paler than before. 

“Okay,” Finley nodded. “I’ll go and find her. Don’t worry, I won’t tell her anything, I’ll let you do it, Albus.”

He scurried off and Scorpius tightened his grip on Albus’ shoulder. “Albus, I’m so proud of you.” He kissed the side of Albus’ face but Albus was frozen still. “What is it?”

“Was it cheating?” Albus said very quietly. “I found the blossomberries because I took Felix Felicis, I didn’t do it on my own.” 

“Albus, no, don’t be silly! The Felix Felicis gave you the luck to find the berries, that’s all.” He turned Albus to face him, holding onto his shoulders. “Think about it, if you hadn’t ever taken Felix Felicis, Lily would still have gone looking for the berries at the full moon. You were trying every ingredient, and you said it yourself that the way the moon affects the berries was interesting to you. Remember, after the meeting, you were talking about it. So you would have wanted to experiment with them eventually, the Felix just sped the process up a bit.”

Albus nodded and bit his lip.

“You’ve achieved this through sheer hard work and perseverance, Albus. None of it was cheating.” 

Albus peered up at Scorpius through his fringe. Scorpius reached out and brushed it back from his eyes, placing a kiss on Albus’ forehead, his fingers entangled in Albus’ hair. 

“Thank you, love. For everything.” Albus looked straight into his eyes. “For believing in me, for putting up with me, for being here with me every day.” 

“Of course, I love you,” Scorpius whispered. 

Albus smiled and Scorpius removed his hand from Albus’ hair, his fingers getting ever so slightly stuck in its tangly mess. Albus winced and tried to push his hair back into submission, but as usual it didn’t obey him one bit.

“Someone hasn’t been using his tangle teasing potion,” Scorpius teased. 

“Scorpius, I haven’t had a proper shower since last week,” Albus deadpanned. “I’m basically a total mess.”

“No you’re not. What was it Rose called you? A  _ gay disaster?” _

“Yes, that. And then you come in here every day still managing to look all… Scorpius.”

“What does that mean?” Scorpius laughed and fiddled with his own hair; he’d combed it that morning of course but that was a long time ago now. 

“I mean you’re pretty,” Albus smiled and reached up to stroke his cheek. 

Scorpius felt himself soften even further. “Well I think you’re beautiful, even when you haven’t showered properly in a week and need to brush your hair.” 

“You have strange taste, Scorpius Malfoy,” Albus said quietly. 

In that moment, Scorpius wanted nothing more than to drag Albus off to the prefects’ bathroom for an early night. But that wasn’t really an option when Albus was still a patient of Madam Abbott and Professor Jacobs was likely to be arriving any second. Instead, he settled for kissing Albus lightly on the forehead and smoothing his hair down. 

“No, I’m just in love with you,” Scorpius said quietly and Albus blushed, then spotted something over Scorpius’ shoulder. 

“Oh look, Professor Jacobs is here.” He leaned over to retrieve the potion flask Finley had brought him and sat up eagerly. 

“Has Finley brought me here so you can tell me what I think you’re going to tell me?” Professor Jacobs’ dark eyes looked thrilled. “Have I been pulled away from marking final year Potions projects for the best reason I can think of?” 

Albus said nothing, simply handing her the flask of potion and sitting back proudly. 

Professor Jacobs looked down at it, she held it up to the light, she listened to the sound it was making, then, like Albus had done, she swirled it around and watched the contents settle. 

“You’ve done it! Albus Potter, you’ve done it!” She was smiling so widely, Scorpius couldn’t help but join in too. “How? What did you use?”

“Fermented blossomberries,” Albus said.

“Collected before the full moon,” Finley added.

“But fermented on the full moon, when they were glowing,” Scorpius said, in case it was important. Albus looked at him with wide, impressed eyes.

“You didn’t tell me that! Now I need to know if that was a coincidence or not.” Albus chewed his lip in thought and Scorpius could basically see him planning another experiment in his head. He caught Professor Jacobs’ eye and she seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Well done, Albus.” Professor Jacobs smiled. “You’ve done an amazing thing here.” 

Albus shrugged. “It still might not work, I don’t know.” 

“No time like the present to find out! I’ll contact St Mungo’s and the Ministry Potions Approval Department, I think you’re going to end up being  _ very  _ familiar with them, Albus.”

“No, I don’t have a portfolio, I can’t apply to any brewers, I’ve missed the deadline,” Albus appeared to be trying to sound offhand.

Professor Jacobs didn’t look at all troubled by this information. “Well, there’s always next year,” she said evenly. “And in the meantime, this is an incredible achievement. I’ll write some letters tonight.” 

“Thanks for all your help, Professor.” Albus smiled.

“You’re very welcome, Albus. But this was all you! This is an incredible achievement, I’m very proud of you, all those extra hours you spent in that workshop by yourself. This is the result of so much hard work, you might be about to change lives!”  

“Thanks, Professor.” Albus fiddled with the back of his hair.

“I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything back.” She placed the flask back on the bedside table. “It’s great to see you feeling better, Albus. I can’t wait to have you back in class.”

Albus muttered something vaguely about looking forward to it too.

“Oh and Scorpius,” Professor Jacobs said as she left, “I’m really enjoying your Felix Felicis essay, very well done. Good luck with your Smash application, I hear letters have started coming out.” 

“Thank you,” Scorpius smiled. “Fingers crossed.” 

* * *

Only two days later, Scorpius found himself at the breakfast table with that very exciting letter in his possession. It had been delivered by a haughty, official looking owl who had nipped him sharply across the knuckles until he detached the letter. Scorpius had barely noticed the owl fly away, seeing nothing but the letter.

“I can’t bring myself to open it,” Scorpius sighed, turning the envelope over and placing his palm flat on top of it. “Especially not without Albus.” 

“This is  _ killing  _ me, Scorp,” Thea put in. “When are you going to see him?”

“He’s being discharged today, this morning actually. Abbott is giving him the all clear as we speak,” Scorpius explained. 

“We’ll be in Transfiguration,” she said glumly. “Do you have a free afterwards?” 

Scorpius nodded, finishing the last of his tea.

“Okay, me too, but if I’m not around when you open this letter,  _ please  _ come and find me right away. I have to know what it says!”

Smirking, Scorpius tucked the letter into the inside of his robes. “Maybe I’ll open it and be all secretive all day and  _ not  _ tell you. Imagine someone doing that.” 

They both stood up to leave for Transfiguration and Thea stuck her tongue out at him. “I’m sticking to you like glue until you find Albus and open that letter.” 

She wasn’t joking. When Transfiguration ended, Thea followed him all the way back to the common room to meet Albus, constantly mentioning how excited she was.

“Thea, you’re making me nervous.” 

“Right, sorry,” she said briskly, opening the common room up for them both. 

Scorpius scanned the quiet common room for any sign of Albus, and almost immediately a flash of dark, messy hair caught his eye over on the large, squashy sofa the seventh years favoured. He almost tripped over an armchair in his haste to get to Albus, revelling in seeing him looking so much better. 

“Look at me, not in hospital.” Albus gestured down to himself then got up from the sofa, hurrying over to Scorpius and falling into his arms. 

He looked brighter and happier than Scorpius had seen him look in weeks. He was in his Slytherin uniform, but his top button was undone and his tie only loosely knotted. His hair was freshly washed and it looked as if he’d even brushed it into submission for the occasion. Scorpius had never been happier to see him. 

“I heard from the apothecary today too,” Albus said lightly. “They’ll have me back full time for the year.”

“That’s brilliant news, Al!” Scorpius kissed the top of his head proudly and released Albus. 

“Okay, you can open it now,” Thea sat down in an armchair and looked at Scorpius expectantly. 

“Open what?” Albus wondered, turning to Scorpius immediately. “ _ Open what?” _

“My letter from Smash arrived,” Scorpius said in a small voice, reaching inside his robes to get it out. “I was waiting for you so I could open it.” 

Albus sat down on the sofa and pulled Scorpius by the hand so he was sitting on his lap. “Go on! The suspense is killing me!”

“It’s killing  _ you? _ ” Thea said incredulously. 

Albus shushed her and put his arms around Scorpius’ waist while he eased the envelope open. The folded letter felt heavy in his hand with anticipation. His heart was beating fast and he felt like he’d swallowed a swarm of bees.

“I can’t look, you do it.” Scorpius thrust the letter into Albus’ hand and buried his face into the crook of Albus’ neck. He heard the rustling of parchment as Albus unfolded the letter, then a pause. 

“Scorpius,” he said quietly, moving his hand further up and rubbing circles over Scorpius’ upper back. 

“What? I didn’t get in, did I?” Scorpius raised his head and looked forlornly at Albus. 

Albus smiled and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “You didn’t just  _ get in,”  _ he kissed Scorpius’ earlobe. “You got an  _ unconditional offer.”  _

“What?!” Scorpius squeaked in excitement and grabbed the letter from Albus, running his eyes over the writing. 

He was right. 

He’d been offered a place at Smash unconditionally. There were no specific exam requirements listed, his references from his teachers, his predicted marks and his interview had been enough to secure him a place. It was more than Scorpius could have even dreamed of, and he felt his eyes fill with tears. 

“I did it! I’m going to Smash!” He flung his arms around Albus’ neck and sobbed into his shoulder. 

“I’m so proud of you,” Albus breathed, stroking his hair. 

“Scorp, that’s amazing, you did it!” He felt Thea throw her arms around him too. “Cole, come here!”

She was calling across the room and Scorpius was vaguely aware of Cole turning up, and looking at his letter, and hugging him too. 

He could barely focus on anything except the feeling of Albus’ arms holding him close. It didn’t feel  _ real  _ that his dream had really come true. He was Scorpius Malfoy, things like this didn’t happen to him.

But they were. He had a place at the school he’d wanted to attend for years, he had amazingly supportive friends and best of all, he had the love of his life by his side. Life was sweet, and only about to get sweeter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Thanks so much for reading and for taking the time to comment :)  
> UPDATE: the final chapter (the epilogue) will not be uploaded for an extra week, on 11th February. Apologies for the delay, but I’d rather it was a week late than rushed. Sorry!  
> Thanks as always to Marina and Beks❤️  
> Tumblr: littlerose13writes  
> Twitter: @scrupiusmalfoy


	11. Epilogue: Happy Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s graduation time for Scorpius and Albus. Scorpius makes some changes and Albus has a surprise. Leaving Hogwarts has Scorpius reflecting on his time there.

“Keep still,” Albus scolded lightly from behind Scorpius, “or it’s going to come out uneven.” 

“You never said I had to be a  _ still  _ guinea pig.” Scorpius flicked his eyes upward and could just about see Albus’ expression; it was one of deep concentration. “How’s it looking?” 

“Adorable,” Albus replied with a grin as he continued to apply the potion through the back of Scorpius’ hair. “I was worried we didn’t have enough for all your hair, but it looks like it’s going to be okay.” 

“Oh, yeah it’s a bit longer than when you bought that potion.” 

Albus continued rubbing gently at his hair. “I like your hair this length.” 

Scorpius scoffed. “What, you mean,  _ needing a haircut  _ length?” 

“You don’t need a haircut, it suits you like this, it’s gotten sort of wavy.” Albus played with a strand of Scorpius’ hair as he spoke. 

Scorpius smiled to himself and closed his eyes in relaxation as Albus gently massaged the top of his head. His touch was always a source of comfort, Scorpius would never get over that. 

“Alright, now I have to comb it through,” Albus read the instructions on the back of the bottle over Scorpius’ shoulder. His voice echoed slightly around the marble floors of the prefect bathroom. 

“Can I see it? Does it look like it’s working?” Scorpius craned his neck to try and peer up at his fringe but Albus had scraped it back with the comb.

“When I’ve finished,” he said briskly. 

“Alright, bossy.” 

Albus continued to comb his hair, unconsciously singing under his breath as he did, until he seemed satisfied and placed the comb back down. 

“Amazing, you didn’t have any knots at all, can’t relate.” 

They both snorted with laughter. 

“Now what do we do?” Scorpius asked.

Albus took Scorpius’ wrist and rotated it so he could check the time. “It says ten minutes is enough for a pastel shade, the longer we leave it, the brighter it’ll get. How pink do you want it to be?” 

Scorpius screwed his face up in consideration. “Not  _ too  _ pink.” 

“Got it, thanks for being clear, Scor.” Scorpius could actually  _ hear  _ him rolling his eyes. 

“Are you learning lots about potioning here?” 

Albus clicked his tongue and sat on the marble bench opposite Scorpius’ chair. “Turns out I don’t know enough about hairdressing to know how potions tend to work on hair. By which I mean I know nothing at all about hairdressing.” 

“But it looks okay, doesn’t it? I know you said Teddy could fix it if necessary but I’d really rather we didn’t need that option.” 

“Relax, it’s looking great already.” Albus grinned and lay back flat on the bench. “I’m really quite good at this, maybe I should spend my gap year working for Teddy instead.” 

“If you want to, you’ll be great at whatever you choose to do with your gap year.” Scorpius sighed and crossed his legs. “Can you believe it’s our graduation tomorrow?” 

“That’s tomorrow?” Albus lifted his head and asked in mock surprise. “Do you want to practise your speech one more time?” 

“Yes please, after this.” Scorpius got up from the chair he’d been sitting on and joined Albus on the bench, sitting cross legged. He stuck his wrist out, his watch facing Albus. “How long has it been on?” 

“Four minutes,” Albus said after a second. He reached up and rubbed at the top of Scorpius’ head, bringing his finger away and inspecting the pink potion coating the tip. “It’s working.”

“Really? Is it really pink?” Scorpius went cross eyed trying to look up at his scraped back hair. “Does it look good?” 

“It’s you, love. You always look good.” Albus leant forwards and kissed him softly. “But you should rinse it out in a minute.”

“In the shower?” Scorpius asked in a suggestive voice. “I might need some help.” 

Albus grinned and then his face fell, suddenly pensive instead, doubt crossing his features. He clearly wasn’t a fan of the idea of joining Scorpius in the shower, which wasn’t like Albus at all. 

“What? What’s wrong?” Scorpius asked in concern, moving closer to Albus.

“Well…” Albus hesitated, getting up from the bench and taking a few steps away. “I suppose I could…” 

“Albus, why are you being weird?” Scorpius frowned at his boyfriend. 

Albus fixed him with a hard stare then sighed. “Was going to wait ‘til tomorrow to tell you, but I’ve got a surprise for you.” He was suddenly using that low, gravelly voice Scorpius couldn’t resist. 

“Tell me.” Scorpius got up too and gently rested his hands on Albus’ hips. 

“Why don’t I show you?” Albus quirked his lip and, in a flash, unwrapped himself from Scorpius, reaching down, crossing his arms and pulling his top up and over his head. He stood before Scorpius, his bare chest paler than his arms, a visible line where his T-shirt had been.

“Too much Quidditch in the sun,” Scorpius chuckled, tracing the line across Albus’ chest. 

Albus didn’t say anything, just began to breathe a little bit deeper, watching Scorpius’ fingertips graze his body. He bit his lip in what looked like apprehension, then slowly turned around. Scorpius stared at the rippling expanse of Albus’ back and gasped when his gaze landed on something unfamiliar. 

“Albus,” he breathed. “Is that…?”

Albus looked over his shoulder and nodded. 

“Let me see.” Scorpius peered at Albus’ shoulder blade and very gently ghosted his fingertips over the small tattoo now present on his skin. 

It was in the shape of a puzzle piece, etched beautifully with shadow and shading, and the whole thing was no bigger than a galleon. Being a magical tattoo, the ink was able to move, but the silhouette of the jigsaw piece remained still and unmoving. Just as Scorpius’ fingers brushed the shape, something appeared, inked onto the puzzle piece and floating gently. 

“It’s… me.” Scorpius could barely believe his eyes. 

There, on the jigsaw puzzle piece, was a tiny, hovering ruby throated hummingbird, Scorpius’ patronus, his essence. It fluttered its wings and stretched its neck, its brilliant colours painted so perfectly into Albus’ skin. 

“When did you… how did you… without me knowing…” Scorpius could barely form coherent sentences. 

Albus turned and grinned. “There was no Alchemy trip to the mountains near Hogsmeade.” 

“You’ve had this for  _ two days? _ And I didn’t even notice? _ ”  _

“Do you like it? Is it too much?” Albus had paled and his thumb nail was in his mouth in seconds. 

Scorpius let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and took Albus in his arms, kissing him on the forehead and then the tip of his nose and then once on each cheek and finally on his lips.

“Not too much, not too much at all.” Scorpius hugged him tight and peered over Albus’ shoulder at the tattoo. “I love you so much, Albus Potter.”

“I know it’s such a  _ teenagers in love  _ thing to do,” Albus said in a worried tone, “but we  _ are  _ in love. And, well, you’re my best friend, Scor. I’d never regret commemorating the most important person in my life.” 

“It’s amazing, I love it and I love  _ you.” _ Scorpius said over his shoulder, watching the little hummingbird flutter its wings. 

Albus pulled away, held onto Scorpius’ shoulders and beamed. He kissed him once, softly, then rested his forehead against Scorpius’. “We should shower, before your hair turns fluorescent.” 

Even though the purpose of their shower was to rinse the potion from Scorpius’ hair, they managed to take considerably longer than the time necessary to complete that. Somehow Albus’ hair ended up soaking wet too. 

Flushed and pleased and full of love for his boyfriend, Scorpius was now in his dressing gown with a towel wrapped around his wet (and pink) hair.

“Can I see it now?” Scorpius asked impatiently for the third time. 

“When it’s finished. Sit down,” Albus replied calmly, his own dressing gown fastened haphazardly in a very distracting and probably deliberate way. Albus stood in front of him, unwinding the towel from Scorpius’ head and lightly rubbing at his hair. 

“Well?” Scorpius scrutinised Albus’ expression but he gave nothing away. 

“Almost there.” Albus went to retrieve his wand and muttered an incantation which caused a jet of air to emit from the end. He tested it on his hand, waving it around a bit, before aiming it at Scorpius’ damp hair. He felt it flutter around, seeing snatches of pale pink out of the corner of his eye. 

It wasn’t just the warm air from Albus’ wand which was making Scorpius feel so content and relaxed, it was the familiarity of his boyfriend’s magic. He  _ knew  _ this magic, it made his fingertips tingle and his heart race. Albus ran his fingers through Scorpius’ hair as he dried it off, tracing patterns across his scalp, and he closed his eyes with pleasure. 

Just when Scorpius didn’t think he could sit still without Albus’ lips on his a second longer, the warm air stopped. He flicked his eyes open and Albus was gazing at him evenly, his wand put away.

“You look…  _ amazing.”  _

Albus’ smouldering gaze was enough to tip Scorpius over the edge and he stood, grabbing onto Albus’ waist and kissing him fiercely. Albus responded with just as much enthusiasm, his hand creeping up to the back of Scorpius’ head and playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. Scorpius found himself with the end of Albus’ dressing gown cord in one hand, reaching up to cover Albus’ chest with his palm and feeling the familiar thump of his heartbeat. 

“You like it then?” Scorpius grinned and Albus nodded furiously.

“Have a look.” 

Albus summoned a hand mirror and thrust it at Scorpius. He angled it correctly so he could see his face and his hair and he gasped with delight. It was a subtle shade of pink, the colour of the muggle candy floss Albus had introduced him to over the summer, the colour of the petals of a cherry blossom. It reminded him of sunshine and sweetness. He looked sort of windswept and interesting, as if he’d just got off a broomstick, as a result of Albus using his wand to dry his hair and then subsequently running his fingers through it. Scorpius grinned and he reached up to touch his hair, smiling as the pink strands fell between his fingers. 

“Thank you, Albus. I love it.” Scorpius looked from his reflection to Albus’ bashful, proud smile. “You did such a good job.”

“Maybe I really  _ should  _ work for Teddy in my gap year,” Albus joked, deflecting Scorpius’ compliment. Scorpius knew better than to labour the point too much.

“Don’t think you’d get to wear your dressing gown in Teddy’s shop.”

“Oh,” Albus frowned in concern. “Maybe I should… take it off?” He went to wriggle out of it. 

Scorpius beamed before an urgent thought occurred to him. “Wait! I really did want to practise my speech.” He grinned sheepishly.

Albus smirked then nodded and sat down on the chair, crossing his legs and looking expectant. It took Scorpius several seconds to collect himself and run through the first line of the speech in his head; all he could think about was Albus taking off his dressing gown.

He closed his eyes for a second and took a few calming breaths, imagining he was on the stage at graduation. 

“My favourite memories of… Albus!” Scorpius whined, the second he caught Albus’ eye and saw the look Albus was giving him. 

“What? I’m not doing anything!” Albus protested, innocently talking the satisfied smirk off his face.

“Yes you are, you’re… looking at me like  _ that.” _

Albus locked eyes with him and rose from the chair, coming to stand behind Scorpius. He wrapped his arms around Scorpius’ waist and rested his chin on his shoulder, whispering straight into his ear.

“Can you blame me? You look sexier than ever,” Albus growled. 

Scorpius turned in his arms and brushed Albus’ hair from his eyes, tucking it behind his ear. Albus bit his lip and gazed up at Scorpius with his wide green eyes, practically begging to be kissed. Scorpius did, softly connecting their lips in that usual, familiar way. 

He didn’t practise his speech again, he didn’t even think about his speech again that night. 

* * *

“All done,” Scorpius said, sliding the knot of Albus’ tie up against his collar. His top button was done up, something he’d rarely done throughout his time at school.

“Thanks, love.” Albus patted the knot of his Slytherin tie and took Scorpius’ hand. “Shall we go and graduate, then?”

They left the dormitory hand in hand, occasionally glancing over at each other and grinning. Albus looked incredibly attractive in his Slytherin uniform and his graduation robes, his hair just the right side of messy where he’d let Scorpius style it for him with a little bit of Sleakeazy’s. Scorpius himself had had a last minute panic that pink and green clashed, but Albus had reassured him that they didn’t and Scorpius chose to believe him. 

Nobody else had seen Scorpius’ pink hair yet; he was truthfully a little bit nervous about drawing so much extra attention to himself, and about what his dad would say. He wouldn’t be cross or anything, but Scorpius just wasn’t quite sure what he  _ would  _ say. Albus had already said he’d tell Draco it was all his idea if his dad didn’t react well, but Scorpius had a feeling that his dad would be able to work that much out for himself anyway.

“Did you remember your camera?” Scorpius thought suddenly as they crossed the common room.

“Yep, got it here.” Albus swung his robes out of the way and revealed his camera hanging from a strap. “I’ll give it to Lily or my mum when we get down there.” 

On the other side of the common room door, they found Rose and Thea, evidently having just met up to walk down. They were wrapped up in each other’s arms and locked in a kiss, seemingly under the impression they were alone. Albus opened his mouth to interrupt and Scorpius trod on his foot.

“Ow!” Albus complained loudly. “What was that for?”

Thea and Rose broke apart and stared at them, both looking completely unabashed at having been caught snogging. Scorpius gave them an awkward sort of wave. 

“Yes?” Rose blinked at Albus in annoyance. 

“Nothing, just the number of times you’ve told me and Scor to get a room and-“

“Scorp, your hair!” Thea interrupted, likely on purpose, striding away from Rose and reaching up to stroke his pink hair. “It looks so cool.” 

“Thanks,” Scorpius felt himself blush a bit. “Albus did it for me last night.”

“Nice one, Al.” Thea grinned at him. 

“Just when I didn’t think you two could get any  _ gayer _ ,” Rose snorted. 

Albus muttered something about Rose being one to talk but Rose ignored him.

“Tell them your thing, T.” Rose nudged Thea.

“Oh!” Thea undid her top button and pushed her robes over one shoulder, revealing her collar bone. “Look, I got my bandage off.” 

Scorpius felt himself light up. “That’s wonderful news! How’s it feeling?” 

“Doesn’t hurt at all anymore. The Healers say I’ll be able to play Quidditch again by October.” She glanced over at Rose. “We’ll be in… Bali, by then?” 

Rose thought for a second. “We’ll have just left Bali, be on the way to Singapore.”

“Excellent, their Quidditch is supposed to be great.”

Rose was jokingly rolling her eyes. “You’re supposed to be  _ resting. _ ”

Thea looked offended. “Yes, until October. Then I’ve got to get my skills back for the Harpies development squad when we come home next summer.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “It’s still only a tentative place.”

“Makes my gap year sound very boring, doesn’t it,” Albus mused, snaking his arm around Scorpius’ waist and starting to pull him away. “We’ll see you down there.”

“Yes, we’ll let you finish, er, I mean…” Scorpius cleared his throat. “See you there.” He pulled Albus away as quickly as possible.

The grounds were alive with an excited buzz, the families of the seventh years arriving in clusters. An apparition point had been set up on the edge of Hogsmeade for the occasion, as well as a Floo connection to the Three Broomsticks so the graduates’ families could walk the short distance up to the school. Scorpius scanned around for any sign of his dad. 

“There’s your dad,” said Albus helpfully, pointing into the distance then breaking into a cheery wave. 

Scorpius watched his dad check his watch and glance around himself, but he hadn’t noticed Albus or his enthusiastic waving. Albus lowered his hand and was trying to pretend he was scratching the back of his head by the time Scorpius’ dad looked up and spotted them, waving them over. 

Suddenly, Scorpius felt extremely self conscious about his pink hair, knowing his dad would have  _ something  _ to say about it. Albus didn’t seem to share his worry and pulled Scorpius along beside him.

“Hello, Draco,” Albus said brightly when they were close enough, nudging Scorpius forward. 

Scorpius gave his dad a sheepish grin, nervously patting his hair into place. “Hi, Dad.” 

“Good morning,” Draco said in an amused voice. “Albus, you look very pleased with yourself. What have you done to my son’s hair?” 

Scorpius expected Albus’ face to drop and for him to start furiously apologising, even though he was almost certain his dad wasn’t cross with Albus. He was already frowning at his dad for making Albus sweat like that and ready to reassure his boyfriend that his dad was only joking, when something unexpected happened. 

“Took me hours, that did,” Albus said with a wink, reaching over to ruffle Scorpius’ hair. “Doesn’t he look good?” 

Scorpius stared in disbelief between his boyfriend and his dad, his gaze landing on Draco’s inscrutable expression. 

“I was beginning to think I was seeing things.” Draco blinked at him, his eyes flicking upwards to Scorpius’ hair. “How long have you had it like this?” 

“Er, just since yesterday. Is it okay? Are you cross?” 

His dad frowned. “It’s your hair, why would I be cross?”

Scorpius shrugged and mumbled something about just thinking he might be. 

“You look very handsome.” He patted Scorpius’ hair back into place, which felt like an approval. “I always wanted to have a purple streak in mine, but of course my father would never have allowed such a thing.”

Scorpius snorted with laughter. “A purple streak?”

His dad gave a wry grin. “Probably for the best I was forbidden, really.” 

“If you change your mind, Draco, I do have a satisfied client base of one whole person,” Albus shrugged in mock modesty, gesturing to Scorpius. “Potioneering’s off the table until next year, I need something to do.”

His dad frowned. “I thought you were going to be working full time at the Apothecary on Diagon Alley?” 

“Anyone would think you didn’t  _ want  _ experimental purple hair streaks anymore,” Albus said dramatically, hand on heart.

“Well you’re certainly in a good mood today, Albus.” His dad chuckled. “Any idea where your parents are?” 

Albus looked around and shrugged. “No, they might not be here yet though. You’re early.” 

Scorpius smirked to himself when his dad shook his shoulders back, presumably proud of this fact. Despite being friends with Albus’ dad now, there was still a bit of a harmless rivalry between the two of them. 

“Well, in that case…” Draco reached inside the pocket of his smart robes and withdrew something. “This is a graduation present for the two of you.” He handed over a golden envelope. “I hope you like it.” 

Scorpius exchanged grins with Albus and eased open the envelope, removing a gilt edged square of parchment. Closer inspection showed it was a voucher for a rather expensive furniture shop in London. 

Albus nudged Scorpius’ thumb out of the way to check how much the voucher was worth, then his eyes widened. “Wow, are you sure?” 

“Now you two are going to be sharing an apartment, I have no option but to spoil you both.” His dad smiled indulgently. “They have some fantastic pieces.” 

“Thanks, Dad, that’s lovely.” Scorpius felt his heart leap as it always did when he thought about him and Albus living together. 

“Thank you, Draco,” Albus said, looking slightly overwhelmed, he glanced at Scorpius before continuing. “You should come shopping with us, help us choose something good.”

His dad looked incredibly touched at the idea and he nodded wordlessly, before his expression changed, focused on something over Scorpius’ shoulder. He turned to see Albus’ parents had arrived and were making their way over to them all. 

“Good afternoon,” Draco greeted politely. 

“Hello! Happy graduation day, boys,” Ginny said warmly, placing her hand on Scorpius’ shoulder and pulling Albus into a quick, one-armed hug. 

“We were waiting for James before we left, but he sent a patronus to say he’s been held up,” Harry explained.

“So he’s not coming?” Albus asked with a hint of urgency in his voice.

“Of course he’s coming,” Ginny said.

“Yes, he’ll be here in time to see you graduate,” Harry paused and glanced at the furniture shop voucher still in Albus’ hand. “What’s this?”

“Graduation present from Draco,” Albus explained, passing it to his dad to have a look. 

“Just a small token, for both of them,” Draco said, turning a fond smile on Scorpius.

“Bloody hell, Draco. It’s only a two bedroom flat.” Harry shook his head and handed the voucher back to Albus with a chuckle. “That’s very kind of you.” 

“It’s been known to happen,” his dad responded dryly. “Where are you two sitting?” 

Albus’ mum started to point out their seating arrangements to Draco and as she did, Albus’ dad glanced surreptitiously around and beckoned Albus toward him. Scorpius hurriedly pretended to be very interested in his shoes in case it was a private conversation. 

“Albus,” Harry said quietly. “Actually, Scorpius, you too. Can I talk to you about something?”

Immediately, Scorpius’ mind conjured up the most awful possible thing Harry might need to tell them both: that he was no longer prepared to help Albus with the deposit and first month’s rent before he started working at the Apothecary, that they couldn’t live together after all.

“What is it, Dad?” Albus exchanged a nervous glance with Scorpius. 

“I’m a bit worried about Lily. She’s been forgetting to write, and when she has written, it’s been rushed and sort of cryptic.” Harry tapped his chin in thought. “Does she seem okay to you?” 

Albus smirked. “I think she’s just a bit busy these days with Fin-“

“ _ Finishing  _ the projects for her Wizards Against Cruelty club,” Scorpius amended quickly. “I think she said she wanted to get them all done before the end of the school year.” 

Albus nudged Scorpius with his shoulder and rolled his eyes. 

“Oh right, yes, she’s still allowed to do that club.” Harry looked unconvinced and he glanced at Albus. “It’s not… like the unicorn thing, is it?” 

Albus snorted. “Nah, seems harmless enough this time. You should ask her about it, Dad. Really have a good catch up.”

Ginny had appeared at Harry’s side and she narrowed her eyes at Albus. “What are you up to?” 

“I was just talking about Lily not writing to us as much at the moment.” Harry shrugged. “Scorpius says she’s busy with her vegan club.” 

Scorpius tried to avoid Ginny’s suddenly suspicious eye, but it was impossible when he could feel her gaze burning into him. He glanced up and winced a bit; she clearly didn’t buy his explanation at all, and he hoped she wouldn’t ask him about it because he was a terrible liar. 

“Yes, I imagine that’s keeping her very busy,” Ginny said shrewdly, frowning at Scorpius’ sudden skittishness. 

“Well, we should take our seats. Good luck, boys.” Harry patted Scorpius kindly on the shoulder and went to move away, Scorpius’ own father following him.

Ginny hung back and leaned forwards to whisper to Scorpius. “Just… promise me it’s not another unicorn?”

“It’s not,” Scorpius said with a shake of his head and a bit of a grin, assuring Ginny that it was exactly what she was thinking.

“And she asked you not to tell us?” 

Albus took a deep breath. “Technically yes, but, Mum, he’s actually-“

“Albus!” Scorpius reprimanded at exactly the same time as Ginny did. 

“You’re just like your uncles sometimes,” Ginny shook her head with a fond smile and she reached out to smooth Albus’ hair into place. “You didn’t decide to dye yours pink too, then?” 

Albus laughed. “I don’t think I could really pull it off, Mum.” 

“I beg to differ, I think you’d look very handsome.” She turned and lightly patted Scorpius’ cheek. “As does Scorpius. You look lovely.” 

Scorpius mumbled an abashed thanks. 

“Mum, can you look after my camera?” Albus swung its case over his shoulder and offered it to her. 

“Only if I can take your picture first.” She accepted the camera and took it out of its case, holding it up to her eye. 

Scorpius immediately put his arm around Albus’ waist and beamed, meanwhile Albus rolled his eyes reluctantly. A quick squeeze from Scorpius made him smile and he posed for the photo, leaning into Scorpius in a way which made him feel incredibly trusted. 

“Beautiful, your hair really catches the light, Scorpius,” Albus’ mum said happily. “Smile, Albus!”

“I  _ am  _ smiling,” Albus protested fondly as she snapped away. 

“Well I’ll see you up there, happy graduation!” She kissed Albus on the cheek and left to join their dads in their seats. 

“I think your dad likes your hair,” Albus said triumphantly, taking Scorpius’ hand. 

“My dad likes  _ you _ ,” Scorpius corrected, lacing their fingers together comfortably. 

“Obviously,” Albus said dryly. “I’m his favourite Potter.” 

They were halfway towards the edge of the lake where a stage had been set up when Scorpius spotted Imogen, Cole and Ava also making their way across the grounds. 

“Aw, well now I can’t call you  _ Blondie!”  _ Cole’s cheerful voice preceded his attack hug during which he violently ruffled Scorpius’ hair. “ _ Pinky  _ it is.” 

Scorpius laughed, not even bothering to rearrange his hair. He’d have to put a pointed wizards’ hat on before he made his speech anyway so he’d just fix it then if everyone was going to insist on continually touching it. 

“Scorpius, you’re iconic.” Imogen clasped her hands together with happiness. 

“So, am I in your speech?” Cole threw his arm around Scorpius’ shoulders. 

“Yeah, Scorpius thanks and congratulates everyone in our year then he performs a song dedicated to the wonder that is Cole Flint.” Albus poked him in the side. 

Scorpius suddenly felt a wave of nerves crash over him despite the lighthearted atmosphere as Cole demonstrated how the song could go with an added dance routine. He swallowed hard and tried to laugh along with everyone but he could feel his heart rate picking up. The enormity of graduating seemed to be hitting him and he was second guessing every line of his speech all of a sudden.

Amid the laughter of his friends, Scorpius felt a warm hand slip inside his. 

“Okay, love?” Albus whispered, leaning over to touch his elbow. 

“Yeah,” Scorpius swallowed, “yeah, just a tiny bit nervous.”

“Come on.” 

Albus quickly laced their fingers and started to pull him away, barely making an excuse to their friends for their sudden departure. He kept walking, away from the slowly filling rows of chairs and over to the opening of the forest trail, which went all the way around the lake.

“Albus, we can’t go too far,” Scorpius looked back the way they’d come as Albus continued to lead him away. “What if we get lost?”

“We won’t, this is my running route,” Albus said confidently, pulling him along the forest trail. 

“We have to be back soon for the start of the ceremony,” Scorpius protested through shaky breathing.

“And you have to be okay,” Albus said simply, veering just slightly off the trail and towards a large oak tree. 

“Albus-“

“Come here,” Albus jerked his head, gesturing for Scorpius to follow him behind the tree. 

Scorpius looked around them both doubtfully. 

“Your hair’s already a mess,” Albus grinned. “Let me calm you down. Please?” 

“Alright, just for a second.” Scorpius smiled and started to walk around the tree to where they’d be out of sight. “Oh! Um, sorry.” He grabbed onto Albus’ arm and took several steps back. 

Polly Chapman and Yann Fredericks were wrapped around each other behind the tree, Polly’s hand stuck firmly down the front of Yann’s trousers. Scorpius made unintentional eye contact with Yann as he fumbled to detach himself from Polly. 

“Alright,” Yann said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously and wrapping his robes tightly around himself. 

Albus had turned red and was staring up at the branches above them all, tapping his foot in what looked like an attempt to be nonchalant. Scorpius half expected him to start whistling. 

“Can we help?” Polly asked impatiently, her arm snaking around Yann’s waist, not an ounce of embarrassment on her face. Yann glanced at Albus then down at the ground. 

“Er.” Scorpius felt like she was expecting an actual response. “No, we were just-“

“The next tree’s free.” Polly smirked and turned back to Yann, looking ready to pick up where she’d left off. “Enjoy.” 

“Um, bye,” Yann waved awkwardly. “Have fun. Er, yes. We-“ 

Scorpius felt Albus tug him away and the second they were out of sight again, he heard Polly’s voice. “Why would we stop now? We were here first, not  _ our  _ fault they walked in on us.” 

Albus caught his eye and snorted with laughter as they dashed off as quickly as they could, bypassing the next few trees and not stopping until they reached a tree stump some distance away. Scorpius hopped up onto it and grinned.

“Why does that keep happening to us today?” Albus laughed. 

“Do you know, that made me feel much better,” Scorpius said brightly. 

Albus shrugged. “Still gonna snog you.” 

He stepped forward, Scorpius’ seated position on the tree stump meaning they were almost the same height, and settled in for a lengthy snogging session, arms wrapped around each other. Albus was practically sat in Scorpius’ lap by the time they broke apart and they both sat still for a second, looking out over the lake. 

“Do you know this is the-“

“-tree we came to after we first kissed, yeah.” Scorpius tightened his hold on Albus to stop him slipping off. 

“It’s going to be weird, not being at Hogwarts. Our relationship is so… attached to this place,” Albus said pensively. “Our first kiss, first time we said  _ I love you,  _ first, well, everything.” 

“Now we have a shiny new flat to attach new memories to.” Scorpius kissed his shoulder with a flourish. 

“Just how _ shiny  _ are we talking? Because I know we have that furniture voucher, and your dad’s place is great, but I think I’m a lot less partial to plating things in gold than the two of you.” Albus fell against Scorpius, both of them laughing. 

“We should go back,” Scorpius said into the crook of Albus’ neck. 

“Yeah,” Albus agreed, not moving from Scorpius’ arms. “In a minute. Do you feel better?”

“Oh yes, much better!”

“It’ll be, you know,  _ alright,  _ won’t it?” Albus said after a pause.

“Graduating, you mean?” Scorpius moved so he could make eye contact with Albus; it was the first indication he’d given that he was worried. 

“Yeah. Leaving this place, moving to London together, doing the adult thing. It won’t hurt our relationship.” He spoke with conviction.

“We survived this year and we’re still together,” Scorpius reasoned. “I think we’ll be better than ever. And we’ve basically lived together for the last seven years.”

“Difference is we won’t have to step over Cole’s socks anymore in our own place.” Albus laughed then jumped off the tree stump, holding his hand out to Scorpius. “Come on then, it would be so awkward if we were late.”

Scorpius half expected them to bump into Yann and Polly again on the walk back but thankfully they didn’t meet anyone amongst the trees, instead emerging to find that the rest of the school had been released from lessons and were filing into rows of chairs. Sensing that they were probably supposed to be backstage by now, Scorpius picked up their pace, hurrying past a line of fifth years.

“Hey, Al!” Lily stepped out of the line and urgently hurried over to them, her hair in a top knot and her tie undone. “Is Dad here yet?”

Albus nodded and started to point to where his parents were sitting with Scorpius’ dad. “Yeah, he’s o-“

“You haven’t said anything about me and Fin, have you?” she said urgently. “Don’t tell him, okay. But don’t tell Finley I haven’t told him.” 

Albus frowned. “You know, Lil, you really should just tell him.” 

“I  _ will _ , just not today. I don’t want to steal your thunder.” 

Scorpius felt himself soften and he smiled at Lily, turning a sympathetic expression to Albus.

Albus didn’t look at all impressed. “That is absolutely not why you aren’t telling him.”

“It is! This is your moment and I won’t take it from you.” She winked. “Like you did me and the blossomberries.”

“Oh, stop it with that,” Albus grumbled. 

“It’s a shame the blossomberries didn’t work for Project Fairy,” Scorpius commented diplomatically. “But it’s wonderful they worked for Albus’ Dragon Pox cure.”

Lily ignored Scorpius and grinned wickedly at Albus. “I’m not the only one keeping things from Mum and Dad. And  _ you’re  _ of age.” 

“What do you mean?” Albus said quickly, reaching over and casually rubbing at his shoulder where only Scorpius knew his tattoo was. 

“You know what I mean,” Lily smiled cryptically. “Let’s just agree to keep each other’s secrets from our parents, okay? Happy graduation.” 

With a serene smile, she moved on, Albus gaping after her.

“Did Teddy tell you?” he called out desperately.

Lily just wiggled her fingers in a wave.

“How the fuck did she find out?” Albus asked nobody in particular, sounding annoyed, until his expression suddenly changed to one of shrewd thought. “Unless… she’s doing that thing again.”

“What thing?”

“She doesn’t know about the tattoo. How could she? It was a lucky guess that I was keeping something from Mum and Dad, but now she knows I am. Damn.” Albus stamped his foot in agitation. “You are so lucky you don’t have a little sister.” 

Scorpius felt he was right in the sense that Lily felt like his little sister at times but not enough to do something like that to him. 

“Will your parents be cross with you for getting a tattoo?” Scorpius asked as they kept moving.

“Er, not sure.” Albus shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I just want to keep it private for a bit, just between us.” He squeezed Scorpius’ hand sweetly. 

They were some of the last seventh years to gather behind the stage which had been put up for the graduation ceremony. It was there that everyone would put on their traditional wizards’ hats and prepare to file onto the stage where Professor McGonagall and the Heads of House would declare them officially Hogwarts graduates. Scorpius swallowed as he looked around at everyone, imagining them all stepping out into the real world and feeling a thrill of excitement. 

“Do you think we’ll have reunions?” he mused aloud. “Like ten or twenty years from now. Who knows what we’ll all be doing, what sort of jobs everyone will have, some of us might have children by then! Oh that’s funny to think about!” Scorpius smiled to himself at the thought. 

Albus straightened up from where he’d been tying his shoelace and looked vaguely confused. “What, Scor?” 

“Nothing, never mind.” Scorpius took Albus in, his bemused expression and sparkling eyes. “You look cute in your hat.”

Albus wrinkled his nose up and adjusted the pointed hat again. “Like this?”

“Stop messing around with it, it’s perfect.” Scorpius glanced around him and stole a quick kiss. “You’re perfect.” 

Albus grinned and crinkled his nose most endearingly. “Smooth, you charmer.”

“Scorp, they need us.” Thea appeared at his elbow. “Photos I think.” 

Scorpius shrugged at Albus and followed her away from the rest of the seventh years to where Professor Longbottom was waiting, waving a camera eagerly. 

“Got your speech all ready?” he asked kindly. 

“Oh yes, we’re good to go,” Thea told him with a grin. 

“Excellent. Right then, stand here for me.” He directed them into position and held the camera up. “I’ll take a few.” 

“You okay?” Thea hissed as they posed for the photo. 

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” Scorpius replied, distracted. Out of the corner of his eye, he’d spotted Albus chatting animatedly with Professor Jacobs. Albus suddenly froze, a hand pressed over his mouth, then before Scorpius’ eyes, Professor Jacobs gave Albus a hug, patted him on the shoulder and moved away, leaving Albus stood dazed and confused. 

“Look at the camera, Scorpius!” Professor Longbottom said cheerfully.

Scorpius forced a grin and posed for a photo with Thea, but the second Professor Longbottom lowered the camera, he excused himself and hurried off over to Albus. He was staring up at the sky, his hands twisted up in his robes. 

“Albus?” Scorpius asked tentatively, gently touching his elbow. 

Albus took one look at Scorpius and fell into his arms dramatically, burying his face into Scorpius’ shoulder. He felt the soft, telltale shake of Albus’ shoulders and almost immediately panicked.

“Please tell me these are happy tears.” 

With a sharp intake of breath, Albus pulled away and beamed at Scorpius, his eyes shining with tears. “They are. Scorpius, I-“ 

He stopped, seemingly choking over the words.

“What did Professor Jacobs tell you? Is it something to do with the Dragon Pox cure?”

“Scor, it’s  _ better.”  _ Albus gripped his shoulders with excitement. “I’ve got a sponsor, for my licence. I can study for my potioneering licence this year.” 

Scorpius felt his eyebrows raise in surprise. “But… how? You didn’t submit a portfolio to any brewers.” 

“St Mungo’s,” Albus said quietly. “Jenna sent my Dragon Pox cure off to the Ministry to be approved and they sent it to St Mungo’s Potions department, obviously because it’s a Healing potion. Anyway, they were impressed. So impressed that they’ve offered me an apprenticeship to train with their brewers at the hospital.” 

Scorpius’ jaw dropped and he could barely stutter out a congratulations. “Albus, that’s practically  _ unheard of.”  _

“They’ve never done it before,” Albus shrugged and wiped at his eyes. “It would be tough; I’d have to do most of the studying for the licence exam all by myself. But I’d be working with specialist brewers and learning from them. There might even be a job at the end of it.” 

“What do you think about it?”

Albus gripped the back of his hair and span on his feet, grinning. “I don’t know, it’s a lot to process. I was all geared up to work in the Apothecary for a year. I should say yes, shouldn’t I?” He chuckled. “Of course I’m going to say yes.” 

Scorpius threw his arms around his boyfriend and kissed every part of Albus he could reach. “I’m so proud of you, you deserve this so much.  _ So  _ much. Oh, Albus, this is the best thing that could have happened.” A thought occurred to Scorpius and he gasped in delight. “Does this mean you’ll be at St Mungo’s every day too?”

“Hmm, I suppose it does.” Albus grinned. “Same as you.” 

“We can be study buddies and test each other for our exams over lunch!” 

“Oh no, we’re going to live  _ and  _ work together. How will I cope, having to spend so much time with you?” Albus nudged his shoulder into Scorpius. 

Scorpius looked upwards and clasped his hands together. “Thank you, universe. We forgive you for this year.” 

“Dork.” Albus ruffled his hair, knocking his hat off. He’d finally stopped crying and was now laughing as he placed it back onto Scorpius’ head with a flourish. “Beautiful dork,” he said softly.

“Scorpius, it’s time for our speech.” Thea was there again and she rolled her eyes fondly at the two of them. “You’ll see each other in a minute, lovebirds.” 

“Good luck, babe,” Albus whispered, briefly kissing Scorpius on the cheek. 

“Thanks, see you out there.”

He linked arms with Thea and they made their way to the stage entrance; Scorpius couldn’t keep the smile off his face when he thought about Albus’ news. 

“You look extra happy,” Thea commented. 

“Oh, I am,” he smiled. 

“Must be the pink hair.”

Professor McGonagall’s voice rang out loud and clear, bringing near silence to the crowded grounds. “Thank you all for coming today to celebrate our graduating class of 2024.”

That was their cue to lead all of the seventh years onto the stage where they filed onto a long row of chairs in alphabetical order, leaving a space each for Scorpius and Thea, who stood with McGonagall to make their speech. She cast a quick and very subtle  _ sonorus _ over both of them.

“I’d like to hand over to our Head Boy and Girl this year: Scorpius Malfoy and Thea Jordan.”

There was a polite smattering of applause and Scorpius swallowed, seeking out his dad’s face amongst the attendees. He was looking right at Scorpius and he smiled kindly, nodding his head; Scorpius stood up a little bit straighter as Thea began talking.

“Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for being here today to celebrate our graduation.”

As she continued, Scorpius’ eyes wandered over to the seventh years on the stage with him, instantly finding Albus. There was an empty seat beside him which should have been Ava’s, but she’d moved up into Scorpius’ space. Ava noticed him looking and winked, nodding her head at the empty seat then at Albus. Scorpius smiled gratefully. 

Thea was coming to the end of her part and Albus caught his eye, giving Scorpius a quick thumbs up. Scorpius felt his lips quirk up into a huge grin before he turned back to the front, took a deep breath and launched into his well-rehearsed speech. 

“My favourite memories of Hogwarts will always be the moments we shared together. The friendships we’ve all made over the years that are guaranteed to last a lifetime. I’m sure every single one of us can think of a time over our years here when a friend has picked us up when we felt like we were down.”

He ploughed on, hearing himself relax into the speech and letting his gaze drift over his fellow graduates. Cole gave him an enthusiastic double thumbs up and a small demonstration of his dance routine from earlier which made Scorpius laugh through his words. Rose looked pensive, as if she were really taking his words in like an interesting lecture, and she beamed at him. There had been a time when he’d thought Rose Granger-Weasley would never want to be friends with someone like him, so to stand here now, talking about friendship, knowing she really was his friend, made Scorpius glow. 

“The connections we’ve made will take us from school to our adult lives,” he continued, letting himself finally catch Albus’ eye.

He was watching Scorpius intently, a proud smile on his face so beautiful and emotional it made Scorpius pause for a second. 

“So thank you, Hogwarts, for everything you’ve done for us and all you’ve given us. Let us go out into the world and make you proud.” 

Everyone clapped and whooped as Scorpius and Thea took their seats and Professor McGonagall began to call each of them by name up to the front where the Heads Of House were waiting to present them with their graduation certificates. Albus immediately took Scorpius’ hand as he sat beside him and gave it a loving squeeze, looking at him as if to say  _ I’d kiss you if we weren’t on a stage right now.  _

After receiving their certificates, the seventh years left the stage and went down to the edge of the lake for the final part of their graduation ceremony. It was the part Scorpius knew was bound to tip him over the edge. Imogen was already tearing up as the seven of them grouped together, Cole wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Rose sighed wistfully as they all followed Ava and Thea to the lake. 

“Together?” Thea looked around at them all.

“On three.” Cole gripped the top of his hat and waited for everyone to do the same. “Three, two, one!”

They removed their hats and threw them high into the air, where they were charmed to immediately take the form of blackbirds which flew away to nest on one of the castle turrets. The moment was meant to symbolise each graduate remaining a part of Hogwarts forever. Scorpius watched his blackbird soar majestically through the sky as he was pulled into a huge group hug with all of his friends before they made their way to the very edge of the water together. 

The little fleet of boats began to take them across the lake, identical to the day they’d travelled in them as first years. Scorpius had been at Albus’ side then, unable to believe his luck, convinced he was about to part ways with Albus Potter forever, (but it had been nice to be friends on the train). He was a Potter, Scorpius was a Malfoy, they weren’t supposed to be friends  _ really,  _ as nice as Albus had been.

Scorpius imagined what his first year self would have said if he’d known that here they’d be, seven years later, not only best friends but deeply in love. He reached for Albus’ hand in the boat and somehow he just knew Albus was thinking the same thing he was as he laced their fingers together in that familiar, comforting way. 

Hogwarts castle drifted slowly further and further away. A place he’d dreamt of his entire childhood, the place where he’d grown in ways he could never have imagined. Tears filled Scorpius’ eyes and he glanced over at Albus, noticing that his own eyes were glistening too. There wasn’t a dry eye amongst his friends, bundled together in the little boat. 

An arm wrapped around Albus’ shoulders, their heads resting together sweetly and the soft lap of the water against the side of the boat, Scorpius knew he would remember this moment forever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anddd that’s a wrap! Thank you so so much for reading this story and making the journey with me :) I do have plans for a third part which begins several years after this one, it’s in the outlining stages at the moment and I’m really excited about it!  
> Follow me on social media to hear how it’s going!  
> Tumblr: littlerose13writes  
> Twitter: @scrupiusmalfoy  
> Thank you again for sticking with me and my story❤️  
> Also check out the wonderful podfic thepistolrecords is creating here for Sweeter Than Fiction! The link refuses to work but you can find it on my author page :)


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